Children
by ranma5487
Summary: Dead for all purposes. sorry :( i just can't get inspired to finish it. It's the sequel to "Mother". It deals with Ranma & Akane's children, and all their fun ordeals.
1. Chapter 1

Children: Chapter One.  
  
It had been discovered, at an exam following Ranma and Akane's difficulty having children, that Akane's body could not support a child. Not thinking before he spoke, Ranma volunteered his girl form. 9 months, and a whole load of new experiences later, two beautiful twins were born, Ranma, and Akama. This is their story.  
  
It was a busy morning in the Saotome household. Akane was yelling at the twins to get out of bed for school, while Ranma slowly cooked the breakfast for the family. He was smiling broadly at getting Akane to not cook today, a feat that had to be done carefully to avoid a mallet to the head. She was getting better, though. In the other room, it seemed that another little fight between the twins had broken out.  
  
"Mom! She said I looked 'cute'." The younger Ranma said, currently female, and in the female school uniform. She stuck her tongue out at her sister, before grabbing a brush and sitting down at her small, mirrored table.   
  
Ranma's room was oddly decorated in blue and pink, one could have almost seen a line dividing the room in half, if it were not for the swirls that mixed the coloring. The room had been constructed with two smaller closets, as opposed to one larger one, a small mirrored dresser with a wooden jewelry box sitting on it, and a large chest of drawers. One of the closets contained clothing that would have been considered strictly 'male' clothing; pants, jeans, T-shirts, his school uniform. The other closet contained strictly 'female' clothing; dresses, skirts, blouses, and things of that sort. The drawers contained the more bulky items, folded sweaters, and sweatpants and shirts, along with undergarments. Ranma's father had brought him up to not be forced into choosing one side of his curse over the other, therefore, Ranma had grown up with almost a split personality. He could be masculine and rough one day, with subtle hints of femininity, and delicate and sweet the next, with underlying maleness. Ranma was a complex person, with an even more complex life, perhaps even close to his father's. No fiancées yet though.   
  
"What, I was just complimenting my *adorable* sister, mom." Akama said, rather sarcastically. A similar peek inside Akama's room would have revealed posters of martial artists spread over each of the walls, a rarely used mirrored table, and one large closet which contained a few more typically 'feminine' choices, though the major factor in Akama's room, wardrobe, and life, was masculinity. The more expected 'girlishness' could be found deeper, but that was a closely guarded part of Akama's life. Akama's personality seemed to be a hybrid of what most people saw in Akane as tomboyish behavior, and Ranma's stubbornness, slightly sloppy speech, and arrogance. Akama cursed being forced to wear the female uniform as she tugged at the frilly white socks required for female students, and brushed off the skirt. Given the choice, Akama would have rather just worn what her father was often told to have worn to school.   
  
Unknown to her parents, Akama would also, on occasion, bind her chest with bandages, as she was developing into a woman much faster than she preferred. This gave her a much less feminine figure, and she figured if they were going to force her to wear that ridiculous skirt, she could at least make it to where all the boys wouldn't be staring at her chest all day. 'Stupid boys...' she thought, wrapping the uncomfortable bandages around her chest several times. The pain was not as present in her mind as it had been in the past, because she'd been training with her father, and one of the more recent lessons was withstanding pain from your opponent. As Akama saw it, her figure *was* her opponent.  
  
"Don't make fun of your sister, Akama. You know she has enough trouble with her curse without you teasing her about being a girl." Akane said, peeking out of the bathroom in the hall. "Really, I'd think you'd be sweeter to your sister, Akama. She's the only one you've got."  
  
"I'm glad for that..." Akama mumbled, under her breath, as she pulled on the uniform's shirt, and straightened it, tucking it into the skirt.  
  
"I heard that!" Ranma called, from the other room, as she brushed out her scarlet hair. In appearance, Ranma had grown up looking more or less like her father, In both forms. The resemblance was fairly stunning, actually. Akama had grown up looking like her father's girl side, only her hair was a deep dark red, almost to where it was just black with red tones. Ranma was 'developing' at the same time her sister was, but unlike her sister, she made no effort to wrap it up, or conceal it. All she did was blush furiously when her mother took her bra shopping.  
  
"Girls, stop fighting." Akane said, sternly. "Don't make me go take over cooking breakfast from your father." A smirk passed across Akane's face.  
  
"More like 'go overcook breakfast.' " Akama said, snickering, finishing getting dressed.  
  
"Do not talk to your mother in such a disrespectful tone." Akane said.  
  
"I'm sorry, ma." Akama responded, walking out of her room, and heading for the table. Her sister was soon to follow behind her, still fussing with her uniform.  
  
'Ugh, stupid bra... I could always just go as a guy, but I already got dressed and everything, plus the guys have really been mean lately' Ranma thought, as she took her seat, and began eating. She noticed her father looking at her strangely, so she looked up and blinked. "Something on my shirt, dad? Something in my teeth?" Ranma said.  
  
The elder Ranma answered, "No, just looking at what a beautiful young lady you're becoming, Ranma. Although... Is that lipstick?"  
  
'Caught....' Ranma thought, frowning. "Yeah, dad... It's a nice shade, right?" She asked.  
  
"It looks wonderful on you, dear." Ranma's father said, smiling, causing his daughter to blush a nice pinkish-red.  
  
"Yeah, it looks wonderful on a *girl* like you, Ranma." Akama said, coming to the table, obviously annoyed at her current state of dress.  
  
"Didn't your mother just say something to you about that, Akama? I don't want you teasing your sister. You will be sparring with me after school, correct?" The elder Saotome said. Ranma's daughter simply ate her breakfast quietly, sighing some over the repeated teasing.  
  
"Yeah, pops. Don't think you're gonna beat me today, I got your number, old man." Akama said, starting in on her breakfast, with a speed that brought back memories. Soon, she finished, and prodded her sister. "Ain't you done yet, Ranma? Man, I always gotta wait on you." Akama whined.  
  
"Yeah.. I'm done. Let's just go, ok? I'm gonna have a long day today." Ranma sighed, as her father looked at Akama, frowning.  
  
"Akama, that is not how I want to hear you speak. Haven't you learned anything from me? You will not be taken seriously if you don't act appropriately." The Saotome patriarch said.  
  
"You used'ta talk like this all the time, dad. I'm gonna be late for school though, I'll talk to ya later." Akama said, grabbing up her books, watching her sister do the same. "Bye ma!" Akama shouted, going past her sister as she walked out the door.   
  
A familiar, but slightly different scene was their walk to school. Ranma was walking along the sidewalk, while her sister walked along the fence. "People can see straight up your skirt, sis. Don't you care?" Ranma said.  
  
"I'll just beat 'em up if they try to take a peek, sis. You don't gotta worry about me." Akama responded.  
  
"Sis, could you come down here for a second, I really need to talk to you." Ranma said, watching Akama drop down. "This morning... Sis, I can hardly take it anymore. You tease me, the guys tease me, the girls hate me... I don't have any friends but my books. It's just getting a little hard, you know? I mean, when I was walking to breakfast, I thought about changing clothes, being a guy at school, and I realized that no matter what, I'd have a long, hard day. The guys are still going to tease me, and the girls are still going to look at me weird. I just wish I had one person who understood."  
  
"Hey, Sis... I didn't mean'ta make you feel bad." Akama said, continuing, "I mean... You are pretty and all. I guess I'm a little jealous of ya." Akama kept her head up with her hands folded behind it, walking straight along.  
  
"Jealous of me? That's a new one. Who would be jealous of me? Thanks to this stupid curse, I don't even know who I am. Sis, are you a girl or a guy?" Ranma asked, receiving the expected answer of 'A girl, sis'. Ranma continued, "Well I don't know which I am. I know my birth certificate says I'm a guy, but does this look like a guy to you? Do guys have to go bra shopping with their moms? Do guys wear skirts, and cotton panties, and pink lipstick? I could same sort of things about me being a girl. I just don't know anymore."  
  
"You get to be a guy whenever you want though, Sis. I hate being a girl, I feel like I'd be stronger if I weren't a little, weak girl. What brought this up anyways, Ranma? I thought you were doing good the other day, you and dad had that talk about when he was in school, Did something happen?" Akama asked.  
  
"There was this guy, sis..." Ranma said.  
  
"What'd he do? If he touched you, I'm gonna give him a lesson he won't forget. Noone messes with my family and gets away with it!" Akama said, getting angrier by the second.  
  
"He just kissed me. He said I was pretty, then he hugged me, then before I knew it, he kissed me. He just kissed me in the middle of the hall, just like that. I didn't know what to do. I just ran in the bathroom and locked the door." Ranma said all this, almost breaking into tears. "Something else too... While I was in the bathroom, I had to, ya know... Use the bathroom...and there was" She stopped, blushing bright red and staring at her feet, stopping.  
  
"You just tell me who he was, sis, I'll take care of him." Akama blinked and stopped, catching the end of Ranma's statement, "Oh, Sis, don't tell me. You got your period, didn'tcha? Man, I'm sorry sis. Why didn'tcha tell ma or me? You shouldn'ta had to go through that alone."  
  
"W-well, I was just... Embarassed. How could I come home and tell dad that his little boy just had his first period? I can see how that conversation would go. Dad would get all excited, or worse, he'd burst into tears like grandpa does. If I told mom, She'd want to take me out shopping again or something. Nothing good ever happens on those shopping trips, sis." Ranma said, sighing. "I found that stuff under the sink in mom's bathroom. I think I got it taken care of for now."  
  
"Well, if you don't want to talk to mom or dad about it, Sis, I think you should atleast talk to Aunt Kasumi about it. You know she's always good for advice." Akama said, tugging Ranma to start walking again, which they did.  
  
"I think I just need to talk to Mom about it. She'll be better to talk to than Aunt Kasumi, I think. This is one of those mother-daughter things, isn't it?" Ranma asked, to which Akama nodded.   
  
"I think you should talk to pops again 'bout how you've been feelin' 'bout bein' a girl, too, Sis. He's hadta go through this sometime too, ya know. At least I think he'd had to, heh, what with havin' kids and all." Akama said.  
  
"Yeah, sis.. I think I'm gonna have to talk to them both. Just lay off on the comments for a little, huh? I-it's a really hard time for me lately, I need my sister behind me." Ranma said, somewhat sadly.  
  
"You know I'm always behind ya, Sis. I love ya, you're my sister, heh. Only one I got, like ma said." Akama said, reassuring Ranma with an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Thanks, Akama. It really means a lot to me." Ranma sais, smiling. "You know, for what it's worth, you look really nice today, Sis."  
  
"Aww, come on." Akama blushed faintly, a sight not seen often, and not to anyone outside family. "I ain't interested in all this girly stuff. If I had it my way, I'd be in black, baggy pants, and a red shirt, just like dad's old one." A small pause, before Akama added a bit, very quietly. "Thanks."  
  
They got to the school, and proceeded through the day in a mostly normal fashion. Since Ranma had gone to school female, he was spared the guys trying to run cold water over him. However, she wasn't spared the embarrassment of having to use the janitor's bathroom to change into and out of her gym uniform. Ranma was always intensely interested in her classes, finding nothing else to really get into. Martial arts just didn't grab her attention like they did her sister's, nor did much other athletic activity. Ranma was completely content being the smart one. Lunch eventually came, the one time that Ranma could be guaranteed a reasonable amount of privacy. "Wonder what dad packed for my lunch today..." Ranma said, to herself, sitting under a tree. She peeked inside the package, and pulled out a small slip of paper. It read, 'To my beautiful daughter, I hope your day at school goes wonderfully, Love, Your father'. Ranma had to force back tears at this nice surprise, usually her dad was not one to do such things.  
  
Akama slipped up beside her sister, and sat down, opening her lunch. "Hey, sis." Akama said. "That was... Really sweet, what dad wrote in our lunches, huh? It's.. nice to know that all guys aren't total jerks." Akama smiled, and put her arm around her sister, right before noticing the tears collecting in her eyes. "Sis? What's wrong?" Akama asked.  
  
"Nothing. It's just..." Ranma was near sobbing, as she held up the note. "I guess I just let my feelings get the best of me, heh. I'll be ok. At least girls get to cry, huh, sis?" A few tears fell out of Ranma's eyes, as she ate her lunch slowly, resting against the tree. Her hair blew in the slight breeze, and her skirt fluttered around a bit as well. Ranma just crossed her legs and continued eating.  
  
"Aww, Sis..." Akama cautiously pulled herself closer to her sister, hugging her a bit tighter. "It's ok. You can cry on my shoulder if you want to. 'kay? What're sisters for anyways?" Akama smiled, as she said this.  
  
"This? I suppose... heh." Ranma laid her head on her sister's shoulder, and sat there for a while, just enjoying the rare warmth that her sister exhibited from time to time. She put an arm around her sister's waist, and hugged her back, before sitting up and moving away. "Thanks, Akama. I mean it." Ranma said.  
  
"Hey, don't get used to it, girlie." Akama said, smirking. "Can't ruin my reputation by bein' soft. Potential opponents might use that against me."  
  
"Oh, of course. Opponents. I see." Ranma said, giggling, happy in the reassurance that her sister actually did love her, no matter what she said. The rest of the day went by fairly easily, Ranma got involved in her studies again, and the time simply melted away. Finally, the last bell rang, dismissing all of the students to leave the building. Ranma, along with many other girls and boys rushed out the classroom doors and headed home. Ranma soon caught sight of her sister, and ran over. "Hey, Akama. Could you wait for a little before you take off, I have to... well.." Ranma trailed off, nodding towards the bathroom. "The girls are going to chase me out if I go in there now, and I sure can't go in the guys one looking like this. It'll only be a few minutes before everyone's gone anyways. Please?" Ranma asked, smiling in her best impression of her dad's 'cute little girl' act.  
  
"Oh, alright. Ya gotta stop makin' that face though. It freaks me out. Ya look just like Pops did that one time he was a little short on money that time we went out ta eat." Akama said, grinning. "Just hurry up when everyone clears out, kay'?"  
  
"Alright... Thanks, sis." Ranma said. She leaned back against the wall, and watched everyone leave from the bathrooms, and eventually, the school was empty. Ranma walked on into the bathroom, and did what she went in there to do, and then she went to the sink, and started washing her hands. Just then, another young woman walked in, she was fairly tall, with brown hair, and stunning green eyes to go with an overall cute face. Her body was slim and toned, much like an athlete's would be. Her chest was starting to develop a bit as well, as such things started to happen around this age. She was dressed in the normal school uniform, but she carried a duffel bag with her. "Oh! I'm sorry, I thought everyone had left already." Ranma exclaimed, blushing brightly. 'She's... really cute.' Ranma thought.  
  
"It's ok, really. You seem a lot more surprised than I am to see a girl in the girl's restroom." The other girl said, giggling lightly. "I'm Taiiku Migaru." She said, going into one of the stalls, taking the bag with her. "I'm pretty new here, so I don't really know a lot of people, what's your name?"  
  
"R-Ranma Saotome." Ranma said, stuttering a little, as she saw the girl's clothes fall to the floor of the bathroom. About a minute or so later, Taiiku came back out of the bathroom dressed in a tight swimsuit, and a pair of yellow shorts. She folded the uniform, and put it in the bag. The tight garment, of course, only enhanced her figure for Ranma to see, and Ranma's cheeks responded by turning even pinker. "That's a really pretty swimsuit, Taiiku." Ranma said, asking, "Are you on the swim team here?"  
  
"So the body and the outfit gave me away huh?" Taiiku said, giggling again. "You seem sort of shy, Ranma. I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you, normally I'll just change in the locker room, but today I was a little rushed. Now I'm going to have to put up with all those goofy guys staring at my chest all the way down the hall. Guys can be such jerks, huh? And of course, I have to be 'blessed' with this figure when I don't have time for the attention it attracts." By now, Ranma was giggling as well. "What?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"I think I know how you feel. Guys are always staring at me too. They can be jerks, a lot of the time." Ranma said, smiling a bit through the heat she felt on her face. "Hey, they do have a reason to stare though, you're pretty."  
  
"Aww, Thanks, Ranma. You're a really sweet girl. You know, I did see this one really cute guy though; I think it was the first day I was here. I've seen him other times, but just when I get ready to go say hi, I have to run off and do something. That's the way it goes, I guess." Taiiku said.   
  
"Ooh, a mystery guy, what'd he look like?" Ranma asked. Taiiku started describing this person, and before long, Ranma's look turned to surprise, realizing that the person being described was she, in her guy form. 'Oh, man... This is just great, a girl thinks I'm cute, and the first place I meet her is the women's restroom. Just my luck.' Ranma thought.  
  
"Hey, what's wrong?" Taiiku asked, putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder.  
  
"N-nothing, heh. Just thinking. He sounds kind of cute, not that I sit around judging guys all day or anything." Ranma said. 'Just great, Ranma, Just great. Now when you do tell her who you are, you're going to have to explain this. Man, she'll never understand." Ranma thought, feeling strangely uncomfortable with the girl's soft hand on her shoulder.  
  
"He looks cuter than he sounds, trust me. I'd love to meet him." Taiiku pulled her arm back, looking in the mirror, and messing with her hair a bit.  
  
'Might as well get it over with... no need to drag it on... she likes you! You like her!' Ranma thought, before he blurted out, quietly. "It's me."  
  
Taiiku looked shocked for a moment, then she laughed. "Oh, come on Ranma, we've only been friends for a few minutes and you're already teasing." Taiiku said.  
  
"No, Seriously... You're a really sweet girl, and pretty, and I want to be friends with you, but if I didn't tell you, it'd just be worse later." Ranma said, tears starting to form slightly in the back of her eyes.   
  
"Well, I guess you're right, Ranma. If you think it's really important, then go ahead. You know, you're really a nice girl, if a bit shy. No reason we couldn't be friends." Taiiku said, smiling reassuringly.  
  
"Well... I was born with this curse. My dad had it, and I got it. Whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl. And hot water makes me a guy. The same guy you saw." Ranma was staring down at her feet by now, embarassed.  
  
Taiiku just stood there, blinking, not really ready to believe it. "Y-you're joking, right? So are you a guy, or a girl?"  
  
"Sort of..." Ranma said, lightly.  
  
"Sort of what?" Taiiku retorted, a bit angry.  
  
"Sort of both. I was born as a guy, but I don't really feel much like one, sometimes." Ranma said. She grabbed two paper cups from the dispenser over the sink, and filled one with hot water, and one with cold water. "I'll show you this, if you really want to see. The reason that I had to wait for everyone else to leave, is that all the girls think I'm a guy, and all the guys try to turn me into a girl, so they can stare at... me."  
  
"That's terrible..." Taiiku said. 'If she really was born with it... There's nothing she could do about it, poor girl, it must be so hard.' She thought, before speaking up again. "Well, show me, I guess. At least I'll get to meet that cute guy."  
  
"Yeah, but will he look as cute in a skirt?" Ranma said, laughing nervously as she poured the little bit of hot water over herself, triggering the transformation. "Hi..." Ranma said, blushing redder than her female form's hair color. Taiiku blinked a bit, and blushed herself, looking down at her current state of dress. Her next reaction, however, was a bit shocking. She started giggling. Loudly. Ranma just made a confused face, and stared at her. "What? What's so funny?" Ranma said, while thinking 'Why hasn't she run off yet?'  
  
"Still... umm... You're still cute. But the skirt is a little... much." She broke out in fits of giggling again, and soon, Ranma started to laugh a bit too. "Those other people sound just plain mean, Ranma. This IS something you were born with, right? You can't control that. They have no right to be mean to you like that. If you still want to, I'd love to be your friend." Taiiku smiled, and put her hand out. "One thing though, Try to only wear skirts when you're actually a girl, ok?" As she broke out into another fit of laughter, she watched Ranma pour the small cup of cold water on his head, and change back to a girl.  
  
"Deal. Besides, my guy side doesn't have the legs for a skirt." Ranma said, winking as she shook Taiiku's hand.   
  
"Ranma, you're hilarious." Taiiku said. 'And so cute...' She giggled, thinking.  
  
"What is taking you so long in here, Ranma?" Akama said, bursting in through the door in a rush. "I'm gonna miss sparring with dad."  
  
"Who's that, Ranma?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"My sister." Ranma said, grinning, going over and hugging Akama. "Sis, this is Taiiku. I just met her, but she's really nice, I think I finally got a friend." Taiiku smiled brightly, and Ranma did the same.  
  
"Nice to meet ya, glad you and my sis are gettin' along." Akama said, impatiently. "Come *on* sis, I'm already late!"  
  
"Bye, Taiiku." Ranma said, smiling, noticing that Taiiku was doing the same. "Have fun at practice!"  
  
"I will." Taiiku blushed lightly, remembering that she was still in the very form-fitting swimuit. "I guess I'll see you around, then. Bye!" She waved as Ranma and Akama rushed out the door. "He really must be strong, to deal with that so well... And I did notice him looking at me, he couldn't hide it." Taiiku said, giggling once more, starting out the door. 'Maybe something will happen, I guess I'll have to wait and see.' 


	2. Chapter 2

Children : Chapter 2  
  
Taiiku walked down the halls of the school, after leaving the bathroom. She was thinking to herself about Ranma, and her sister. "Wonder if her sister's cursed too... Guess it doesn't matter, they both seemed like nice girls. Akama seemed to be in a hurry to get home though, she said she was sparring, maybe she's in to martial arts. I'll have to ask." Deep in thought as she was, Taiiku barely noticed the wide eyed stares of the various boys staying to practice with the teams, nor their mutterings about her looks. Finally, she pushed open the doors to the large pool on the school grounds.  
  
"What took you so long? You're late." The harsh female coach yelled at Taiiku, as she walked in.  
  
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Taiiku said, taking her place over by the other swimmers. There was a rather expected buzz among the young women, but the coach soon silenced the group with a loud whistle blast.   
  
"Alright, girls, get in the locker room and get changed!" The coach said, as the girls filed into the small room.  
  
"So, Taiiku, what were you so late for?" One of the girls asked.  
  
"I met this really sweet girl, and her sister, and I guess I just got caught up talking. It was pretty sad too, it seemed that noone even wanted to be around her, she was in the bathroom all by herself. I think if I hadn't come in there, she'd have been crying." Taiiku said. "Why do you care anyways, Yuki?"  
  
"Just wondering... Tell me, this girl's name wasn't 'Ranma', Was it?" Yuki asked, frowning.  
  
"Yeah, it was, why? You know her?" Taiiku said.  
  
"Everyone knows *her*." Yuki said, placing obvious emphasis on the gender designation. "She's not even really a girl. 'She' is just some boy who claims to have a 'curse'. He didn't try to look at you while you changed or anything, did he?" Not allowing Taiiku to answer, Yuki continued. "Just stay away from that pervert, ok? It's bad enough he tries to come in our bathroom, and our locker room, he even goes so far as to make up this whole crazy story, and wear the girl's uniform. What self-respecting guy puts on *lipstick* just to get a peek at one of us?"  
  
By now, Taiiku was sighing heavily, seeing the proof that what Ranma had said was true. The girls, atleast these girls, did all have it in for her. "Be quiet, Yuki. Ranma is a very nice person who's had to deal with changing back and forth like that since he was born. I think it's terrible that all of you can't be a little more understanding. He never did anything that was even remotely rude around me, He seemed shy, actually, probably because he hasn't got a friend in the world. He's cute, funny, sweet, and now that I see how hard you all make it, it's a wonder he keeps such a good outlook." Taiiku had an expression of disgust on her face by this point, and Yuki was shrinking back. "Maybe if you looked past the surface once in a while, you'd be suprised." Taiiku said, before standing up on the bench in the locker room, girls in various states of dress or undress looking squarely at her as she shouted. "Hey! I just learned that you've all been picking on this friend of mine." Taiiku knew it was 'socially risky' to do something like this, but she went on anyways, leveraging her popularity as an athlete for her cause. "Her name's Ranma Saotome. I heard that you, and the other girls in school have been calling her a pervert, simply because she wants to use the restroom. I know about her curse. I really don't want to hear about any more of this. She's a friend of mine, and instead of making her feel terrible, I hope you guys will be nice to her, or at the very least, let her use the restroom, and change, in peace."   
  
A hush fell over the group of girls, as they all pulled on their swimsuits. Finally, one of them spoke up. "So... She's really.. Cursed?" The girl asked.  
  
"Yes. She showed me. The worst thing is, the guys pick on him even worse than you do. He *can't* go in the guys locker room, because they know how to trigger the change, and all *they* want is to stare at a girl naked. They know all of you would scream, or kick them in the crotch, but not Ranma. Just be a little nicer to the poor girl, she's got enough problems. Besides, that sister of hers looks pretty dangerous, And I sure don't want to make her mad, do you?" All the girls shook their heads, knowing Akama's reputation.  
  
Yuki spoke up, looking at Taiiku. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't know what the other girls are gonna do, but I believe you. Ranma's gonna have atleast two friends, that's for sure. Besides, his guy side is pretty cute..." Yuki giggled a bit, as the girls started heading for the door.  
  
"Just what I was thinking." Taiiku said.  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma and Akama were on their way home. Akama was walking along the fence again, laughing to herself at how much her balance was improving. Ranma was blushing, from when she turned her head to the side, and caught a short glimpse of her sister's underwear as the skirt of the uniform fluttered in the wind. "Sis, come on, get down from there. Anyone could look straight up your skirt with no problem at all." Ranma said.  
  
"I toldya this morning, Sis. If anyone tries, I'll beat 'em up." Akama's voice had a certain sense of assurance. She was quite certain that she could take anyone that'd even try to be so gross.  
  
"I didn't even have to try, Sis. I just looked over to talk to you and the wind blew your skirt up." Ranma's blush deepened. "And ask me next time you borrow my undies, ok?" Ranma smirked, as Akama hopped down off the fence.  
  
"Just another reason I hate these stupid things..." Akama sighed, then started smirking like her sister. "I can't believe you looked up my skirt, Ranma." Akama said, teasingly.  
  
"I didn't have to look. I just turned my head." Ranma said, teasing back. "I wonder sometimes if you don't want some guy to sneak up and plant a big kiss on you, what with the way you act."  
  
"Hey!" Akama screeched, "Maybe that's what *you* want, girlie."  
  
"Nope. You on the other hand.." Ranma giggled, making her voice as deep as she could in her female form. Unfortunately, it was still a sweet, melodic, undeniably feminine tone. "Oh, Akama, You're so pretty! Let me kiss you!" Ranma broke into laugher, making kissy faces at her sister.  
  
"Cut it out, Ranma. You know you don't count." Akama grinned widely, putting her arm over her sister's shoulder. "You're not a guy."  
  
This time, it was Ranma who squealed, "Hey! I am too... Just not right now. So ha." She said.  
  
Akama let herself laugh a little, as they continued on their way home. Absorbed in her apparent victory in the sibling teasing wars, Akama never noticed the smirk on her sister's face. Ranma kissed her sister square on the cheek, leaving a bright pink lip print. "Ok, ok, you got me." Akama said, wiping at her face.  
  
"Sure did. I win." Ranma said, laughing and gloating. Unfortunately, her victory was short lived, as soon she received a kiss on her cheek, from Akama.  
  
"Love ya sis. But I win." Akama said, grinning, as they turned the corner to their house. A few more steps, and they were home.   
  
"Hey, you two." Akane said, standing at the door. "How was school today?"  
  
"Pretty good." Akama said. "Can't wait to get this stupid thing off though, ugh, skirts.." She trailed off as she headed into her room.  
  
"And what about you, Ranma?" Akane said, watching her daughter take a seat on the couch and cross her legs.   
  
"School was fine, just like normal, everyone teased me. I had lunch with Akama, then after school I met this really nice girl named Taiiku. She's a swimmer." Ranma said, smiling, tugging on her skirt a bit.  
  
"That's wonderful, Ranma. I'm glad to see you making some friends." Akane said. Just then, Akama came by, heading out to spar with her father.  
  
"He's out back, right?" Akama asked. Her mother just nodded, and Akama rushed out the back door.  
  
"Mom?" Ranma spoke up shyly. "I really need to talk to you... It's important. Something happened yesterday at school that I didn't tell you."  
  
Akane's facial expression turned worried, and she sat down on the couch next to Ranma. Akane put one arm around Ranma's shoulders, while Akane's other hand rested on Ranma's shoulder. Plainly, Akane asked, "What is it, Ranma?"  
  
"I think... Well, I'm pretty sure.. That I had my first period yesterday." Ranma answered, uncrossing her legs, and burying her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do, mom. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was just so embarassed."  
  
"Oh, Ranma... I'm so sorry, I should have seen this coming. You spend much more time as a girl than your father does, I should have known..." Akane said, pulling Ranma close. "It'll be alright, Ranma. Every girl goes through this at some time in their lives. It's a natural thing." Akane was cut off by her distraught daughter.  
  
"But I'm *not* a girl, mom." Ranma sobbed, her voice dropping, "Not a guy either..."  
  
"Ranma... You're a very beautiful, sweet, girl. You're just going through a normal part of a girl's life. I'm sure you've started to notice... certain things in your guy form too. How pretty all those girls at your school are, how your voice is starting to get a little deeper... It's all normal for growing up. You have me and your father both, to help you. Don't be scared, we're not going to let anything happen to you, and I promise it'll be ok, alright? I think you should talk to your father after he's done training with your sister." Akane smiled, holding her daughter's shaking hand.  
  
"It was... so... gross, Mom. Seeing that blood there. Is that normal? Should I have been bleeding from... There?" Ranma asked, shaking still, but less with her mother's comforting grasp around her hand.  
  
"Yes, it's perfectly normal, dear." Akane said, continuing to explain the details behind a woman's monthly cycle. "I don't know if it'll be different for you, since you aren't a girl all day, every day. My best guess is that it might be stretched out some, although, it could still happen no matter what, right on schedule. Provided you're a girl when it's that time."  
  
"I found that stuff under the cabinet, Mom..." Ranma said, embarassedly.  
  
"Great. We can skip that part then, hmm? You're a smart girl, so I imagine you can figure it out. Don't hesitate to ask me if you need any help, Ranma." Akane said. "Ranma, you know that you can get pregnant now, don't you?" A serious mood fell over the room.  
  
"Yeah. I know." Ranma said, a knot forming in her stomach. She didn't plan to ever be pregnant, really, but then she didn't expect that her dad ever expected to be either.   
  
"Ranma, I just want to say this to you. If you do happen to... Your father and I will never stop loving you, no matter what happens. Alright?" Akane said, looking at her daughter.  
  
"Ok, Mom. I understand." Ranma said, fiddling with her shirt. "I.. um.. Really need to go get changed, Mom. Thanks." Ranma hugged her mother tightly, and a few tears fell on her mother's sleeve. Then Ranma got up and went in her room, pulling off her uniform and hanging it up. She looked at herself in the mirror for a few seconds, and ran her hands down her body. 'I feel so... Soft.' She thought. 'I really do need to talk to dad.' Ranma pulled a pair of loose blue shorts from her drawers, and took a baby blue t-shirt from her closet. She put both of the garments on, and fluffed her hair out of the collar. Smiling into the mirror, she suddenly thought of Taiiku. 'She was really pretty... And I almost thought she was interested in me. Well, not this me, but my guy side. I am attracted to girls, and I've always thought I was going to be a husband someday, rather than a wife... Man, I wish Dad would hurry up...' Ranma's thoughts wandered, then they were interrupted by Akama coming down the hall and heading to her room, bragging. She'd gotten closer than ever to beating her father, even though he still won.  
  
"Yes! I'm gettin' closer and closer... One of these days, pops!" Akama yelled, as she grabbed a change of clothes from her room, and headed to the bathroom that Ranma and Akama shared.  
  
"You did very well today, Akama. I'm proud of you." Ranma Sr. said. He headed into the master bathroom, inside the master bedroom, but was stopped by his daughter tugging at his shirt. "Hm, Oh, Ranma. Hi, honey. How was your day?"  
  
"Great, dad." She stood up on her toes, and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for that note in my lunch... It really cheered me up." Ranma said.  
  
Ranma Sr. replied, "I'm glad you had a nice day dear. I'm really sweaty from working out though, mind if I go take a bath?"  
  
"Of course not, Dad." Ranma said, "I need to talk to you after you're done though. It's... really important."  
  
"Alright, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said, and disappeared into the bathroom.  
  
Akane was busily cleaning up the living room, picking up little pieces of trash left around the house carelessly, but her mind was somewhere else. She was worrying intensely about Ranma. 'She's so confused... Doesn't even know who she is. She does seem to lean more to the feminine side, but then again, she always reacts so harsh when her sister teases her. Well, I think she's going to talk to her father, that's the best thing I know.'  
  
Ranma was laying on her bed, sniffling. "This sucks." She moaned, to noone in particular. Staring up at her fan, with her hands behind her head, her mind got carried away to a possible future where she was wearing a bright white wedding gown. "It seems nice..." Ranma said, picturing it in her mind. "But do I really want to be a bride? Is that really me?" Another image of the future popped into her head, one of Ranma in an elaborate tuxedo, staring down the aisle at a bride. 'Why.. why do I like this more? I feel more comfortable seeing myself like this...' Ranma thought.  
  
A knocking noise caused Ranma to look over. Her dad was standing there, clean clothes on from the shower, hair still slightly messed. "You wanted to talk to me, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Yeah, Dad... I need to talk to you about... me." Ranma patted the space beside her on her bed. "Come sit down, dad, please?"  
  
"Alright, dear." Ranma Sr. moved over, and sat down on the bed beside his daughter.  
  
"Dad... I had my first period yesterday. Before you say anything, I've already talked with Mom about it, that's not what I wanted." Ranma took a deep breath, and continued, "It made me think... more than I had already. Who am I? I don't look much like a guy, but.. I really don't feel like a girl. Most of the time when I'm a guy, it's the other way around, too. I'm just confused... Then at school today, I found out this girl had been watching my guy side for a while. She said that he was really cute, and she'd love to meet him. So... I let her. I think she took it ok, but that just made it worse. She didn't seem to mind if I was cursed, because she saw me first as a guy, so that's how she thought of me.... But I don't know how to think of myself."  
  
Ranma Sr. helped his daughter sit up, then he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close. "Ranma... You're a very unique person. I can't tell you how to see yourself. Maybe you're not a guy or a girl. Maybe you're both. You don't stare at guys and obsess over your looks like some girls do, but then again, you're not really interested in athletics or martial arts, like a lot of guys are. Maybe, just maybe, you're so special that you get to be whoever you want, and just happen to get to look the part." He said.  
  
"Dad... I know I'm different, there's no reason to try and make me feel special. I know that I'm cursed forever. I asked Akama if she was a guy or a girl, and even though she acts so different from all the other girls, she said, right away, that she was a girl. She knows exactly who she is. I feel like I don't.' Ranma said, sighing heavily. "The worst part is, I'm starting to get interested in... girls. I think it'd be nice to have a girlfriend to go out on dates with, but that doesn't make me a guy or a girl either..."  
  
"That girl you met today, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said, "Was she friendly to you?"  
  
"Yeah, Dad." Ranma answered. "She was great, said something about how I was born like this, and I couldn't have had any way of knowing it. I even think she might have made herself late to practice trying to cheer me up, when I told her how the guys and the girls usually pick on me."  
  
Ranma Sr. smiled. He had an idea. "She knew who you were, Ranma. She saw past what was infront of her, and she saw to the sweet, caring, intelligent person underneath. So you're in a dress today, and a suit tomorrow, you're still the same person underneath. Your looks can't change who you are. I had to have your mom teach me that, and now I'm passing it on to you. No matter what you look like, the people that are really important will be able to see past that, and see you." He said. "Plus, it sort of sounds like she had a crush on you, Ranma." Ranma Sr. smirked, and went into a mock of Soun's crying fits, minus waterworks. "My daughter's a heartbreaker! Women and men alike fall at her beauty!" Ranma Sr. could hear the happy giggles coming from his daughter, and he knew she'd gotten the point.  
  
"Oh, stop that, dad... You're just being silly." Ranma said, smiling and laughing. "She's on the swimming team, you know... And I do like to swim... Maybe if I signed up, I'd make more friends. Even if I didn't, I'd get to spend time with the one I have, right?"  
  
"Sounds like an excellent plan to me, Ranma. Those pools aren't that warm though. It's a girls' team, right?" Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Of course, dad.. I'd look silly in a bikini as a guy, anyways." Ranma said, smirking.  
  
"I'm almost positive they don't let you wear bikinis." Ranma Sr. said, smirking back. "Do you know where your sister went, Ranma? I just thought of something I want to show to the two of you."   
  
"I think she went to take a bath after you two were done sparring." Ranma said. "She should be out by now though, why don't you go knock on her door?"  
  
"Alright, Ranma. So, do you feel better about life now, my daughter?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so, dad. I mean, I know I'm the same person no matter what I look like. I just don't think anyone else knows." Ranma said.  
  
"You get on that swimming team and show them, alright? Everyone's gonna see how wonderful my little girl is." Ranma Sr. said, hugging his daughter closely, kissing her forehead gently.  
  
"Aww, dad..." Ranma said, obviously embarassed. "I'm not your little girl, I'm almost 16!"  
  
"Don't kid yourself, dear. You are always going to be my little girl. Your sister too. You're stuck." Ranma Sr. said, grinning.  
  
"Oh brother." Ranma said, grinning, before she kissed her father on his cheek. "Guess I better get used to it then."  
  
"Yup. Might as well." Ranma Sr. said, getting up, and going across the hall to Akama's room. He knocked on the door several times, and finally Akama's head poked out the door.   
  
"Yeah? What's up, Dad?" Akama said.  
  
"Come out here, please, I have something that I want to show the two of you." Ranma Sr. said.   
  
Akama opened the door the rest of the way, revealing her usual attire of baggy shorts and a men's t-shirt. "Comin' dad." Akama said, and she walked into the hall.   
  
Ranma jumped up, ponytail bouncing, and walked to the hall as well. Their father then led them into his room, where he took out a somewhat big box from under the bed. He spoke up, looking at Akama. "Akama, since you've been coming along so well in your lessons, I've decided to give this to you." Ranma Sr. said, pulling the lid off the box. Inside the box, seemingly perfectly preserved, was the outfit that Ranma Sr. used to wear exclusively, Red silk shirt with golden latches, black baggy pants. Akama's eyes went wide as she took the garments in her arms.  
  
"Dad... You bein' serious 'bout this?" Akama asked, holding the clothes as if they were the most valuable object in the world, absolutely priceless. "I mean, this is your old uniform... I don't deserve it, you fought so many people wearin' this, I can only imagine the stories." She said.  
  
"Remind me to tell you some of the stories sometime, Akama. For now, I say you do deserve it. I want you to have this outfit, it's been very special to me, and I know it'll be special to you too." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Thanks, Dad." Akama said, running her fingers over the material of the shirt. "I'm gonna go try it on!" With that, she practically ran into her room, to change.  
  
"While your sister's busy, I'll show you what I wanted to show you, Ranma." Ranma Sr. went to the closet, and opened it, pushing back rows of clothing. He finally came to the object of his search, a green jacket, hanging on a hanger, over a women's white dress shirt. A red tie hung around the neck, although it was more of a school uniform-ish tie, split into two short tails. Under the shirt, clipped to the hanger, although somewhat hidden, was a solid green skirt. "I want to give this outfit to you, Ranma. I was going through the closet a few days ago, and saw this. Normally I would have just kept it, but I'm afraid I've gotten a little big for it. There's a few other things, as well." Ranma Sr. said, pulling out the hanger, and a box with tall brown boots. "I think it's only appropriate to celebrate such an occasion as you had yesterday, with a little present, don't you? You really aren't my little girl anymore, you're becoming a woman right before my eyes. Not to mention how much your other side is maturing. Getting girls already... Just promise me you won't break too many hearts, Ranma."  
  
"Can't promise anything, Dad. You know how us Saotomes are." Ranma said, grinning. Ranma turned to look at the hanger, then to the box. She opened it carefully, and looked at the boots, smiling. "They're huge, dad. They'll probably come up to my knees atleast. This little shoelaces at the top seems kind of pointless, but I suppose it'll be cute when I tie them into bows." Ranma said. She looked in the box, and there was one more item. Pulling out the extra item, Ranma saw that it was two very, very tall green socks, with a stitched band at the top. The socks would easily come up close to where the skirt would end. "Wow. Big socks." Ranma said, laughing a bit.   
  
"Do you like it, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's a really nice outfit, dad. It looks great. I might have some trouble getting used to those huge boots, though. The brown looks nice with the green, so I might just deal with it." Ranma smiled, and gathered up the clothes, heading into her room to change as well. "Be right back, dad!" Ranma said.  
  
It seemed that almost as soon as Ranma left, Akama came back in. "Not to sound ungrateful, dad... But these pants are a little big. And the shirt's sort of big too." She said.  
  
"Of course.. I wore that when I was a guy, mostly, I think I forgot to give you something." Ranma Sr. said. He reached under the bed again, and pulled out a small bag with white linen ties, and one large black one. "Let me see if this will work." Ranma Sr. said, tying the large black tie around Akama's waist, catching the shirt and the pants together. He then took two of the white ties, and put them around Akama's ankles, ensuring that the pants would be comfortable, but not fall off. "There you go, Akama. Should be much better now." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Hey, it is better. Thanks, Dad!" Akama said, quickly kissing her father's cheek, before blushing. "Love ya... pops." She whispered, then she went outside to practice by herself in the new outfit.  
  
Ranma knocked lightly on the door, to make her dad turn around. Ranma Sr.'s eyes widened considerably as he looked to his daughter. She had changed into the outfit, and let her hair out of it's usual ponytail, letting it spill down her shoulders and back like a crimson tidal wave. "Well, what do you think?" Ranma asked, shifting around in the uncomfortable boots, hand resting on her hip in a cute pose.  
  
"You're absolutely gorgeous, Ranma. I can't believe I could have one wonderful daughter, much less two. You look so much like me when I was younger, yet I still can't help seeing your mother's fire in you." Ranma Sr. was smiling broadly, purely out of love and pride.  
  
"Dad..." Ranma whined, cheeks flooded with pink. "You're embarassing me..."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I do really look pretty, don't I?" Ranma asked.  
  
"You do, Ranma." Her father answered, "You look wonderful." 


	3. Chapter 3

Children: Chapter 3  
  
The next morning went rather smoothly, everyone got up on time, and headed off to school. Ranma had decided to go to school today as a male, probably due largely in part to Taiiku's comments about how cute he was. As expected, his sister engaged him in some amount of teasing on the way there, about having a crush on a girl he just met. School proceeded much as Ranma was used to; he paid attention in all of his classes, and took down detailed notes on every subject he was in. He suffered through the embarrassment of gym class, where, sure enough, one of the guys managed to sneak up and pour water on him. Ranma retaliated in the only way she really knew how, and kicked the guy square in the crotch. This didn't do much for Ranma's social standing, but that and a quick hot shower, made him feel tons better. Lunch came again, and Ranma sighed, sitting under a familiar tree. "Finally. Lunch. No one's going to bother me." Ranma said.  
  
Taiiku sighed; she'd heard through the gossip network, during lunch, that the guys had gotten Ranma again. The only thing that made her giggle about it was the fact that the little shy girl she met the day before actually delivered such a nice, well placed blow. 'Should give him a couple weeks, at least.' Taiiku thought. She looked around casually, before sitting down to eat her lunch, and was glad she did, when she spotted Ranma sitting under his tree, far off from everyone else. "Poor guy..." She said, to no one in particular, before heading over. Ranma must not have noticed, because he seemed exceptionally surprised when she cleared her throat, trying to get his attention.  
  
"Oh!" He exclaimed, looking up. Suddenly, he blushed, and looked down. "T-taiiku... I didn't see you there. Hi." 'What is she doing over here?' Ranma thought, struggling to get himself to stop blushing. 'She's so cute...' He thought.  
  
"Well, you see me now, right? Mind if I sit down? This looks like a nice place to eat." Taiiku said, not waiting for a response before she took a seat on the soft grass, beside him. She crossed her legs as they stretched out straight in front of her, slim and muscular as they were, capped in frilly white socks and standard shoes.  
  
"Go right ahead... I don't mind. It's nice to have the company, actually." Ranma said, managing a smile as he looked over at her. Something about Ranma's deep blue eyes, and warm smile must have been overwhelming, as a soft pink tint began to appear on Taiiku's cheeks as well. "So, how's your day been going?" Ranma asked, adding under his breath, "Has to have been better than mine."  
  
"Pretty good." Taiiku answered, sighing again. "I heard about what happened to you. People are so mean. Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm ok, I guess. It's not like they hit me or anything, they just want to... Look at me. It's embarrassing." Ranma said. He started to fumble with his lunch.  
  
"Why don't you talk to the principal about it?" Taiiku said, starting to open her lunch as well. "I'm sure he'd have to do something about it."  
  
"He just says that it is normal guys teasing... Since the faculty thinks I'm a guy, that's all they say. Some people can be so thick." Ranma said.  
  
"Well, Ranma, those guys are just jerks. Don't worry about them, ok?" Taiiku said, smiling sweetly, green eyes shining, framed by thick black lashes. Her lips had a shiny look to them, and they were drawn into a delicate curve.   
  
"Ok... I won't." Ranma said, pausing for a long moment before he spoke up again. "I...um... Just wanted to tell you..." Ranma fumbled, not being able to say it.  
  
"Go ahead, Ranma. I'm listening." Taiiku said, staring straight at him unintentionally.  
  
"You look really nice today, Taiiku." Ranma said, putting his hand behind his head, as he grinned shyly.  
  
"You look pretty nice too, Ranma." Taiiku said. Wait, he was flirting with her... Did this mean what she thought it meant? She did think Ranma was cute, and she had said that she wanted to meet him and all that... Maybe this was just how things went?  
  
"So, your mom's letting you wear mascara? Your eyelashes look nice." Ranma said. He was unaware that most people would find this a rather odd question, and statement, to come from a guy.  
  
Giggling, Taiiku replied, "Why, yes, Ranma. She is. Thank you for noticing." 'Oh, he *is* cute... It's sweet of him to notice."  
  
"Sorry, I know that was sort of a girlie question to ask. I just noticed, and I thought I'd say something. Guess I should think more though." Ranma said, turning bright red.  
  
"Hey, it's ok. If I were like you, I'd probably ask some silly guy question every now and then. Most guys wouldn't even notice a girl's eyelashes. I think it's sort of sweet, actually... that you appreciate it." Taiiku said. In between their conversation, the two had somehow managed to eat their lunches, and now the bell was ringing. "Time to go back to class... Too bad we don't have the same teachers, it's nice talking to you." Taiiku said. She suddenly got an idea, and her face brightened up. "Hey, Ranma! I've got a competition today. I'd... really like it if you'd come watch." Taiiku said.  
  
"I think I can do better than that." Ranma replied, smiling. "I'm thinking about joining the team. Who knows, I might make some more friends, and we'd get more chance to hang out too. That is if you don't mind hanging around with a girl like me."  
  
Taiiku giggled, putting her hand over her mouth, "That sounds great, Ranma. The other girls may be a little hard on you, but hey, I'll be there, can't be that bad, can it?"  
  
"No, I don't guess so." Ranma said, smiling. "I'll be there. See you later!"  
  
"See you this afternoon, Ranma." Taiiku said, trailing off as she walked away, "Silly guy..."  
  
The two of them returned for the rest of their classes, although Ranma couldn't help but watch as Taiiku walked away, feeling this strange stirring in his emotions. 'She really is a nice girl, I'm glad we're getting to know each other better... I hope I can make more friends.' Ranma thought. He picked up the pace again, seeing how he'd fallen behind the wave of other students. The rest of the day went fairly smoothly, Ranma did get embarrassed a few times, however, when the teacher called on him, and he was caught daydreaming.   
  
Eventually, the end of the day came, and Ranma nervously went down the hall, looking for his sister. They caught each other, and Akama was tugging at her uniform and sighing. "Here I am, stuck in this... Skirt, and you get to go around however you want... I tell ya, I'd switch places with you any day, Ranma." Akama said.  
  
"Sure you would, Sis. Sure you would." Ranma said, sighing a bit as well, before he remembered the swimming competition. "Hey Sis..." Ranma said, "You want to go to a competition for a little while? It's a swim meet, and it's supposed to start in a few minutes, I think."  
  
'Hmm...' Akama thought, 'Wasn't that girl a swimmer? I think she was... My brother's got a crush, this is just too good.' "Eh, sure, I suppose. I don't have anything else 'ta do today." She said.  
  
The two of them proceeded down the halls, eventually pushing open the heavy doors that led to the pool area. Many swimmers were stretching and warming up in the pool, apparently the meet hadn't started yet. People were already filling the stands, and Ranma had to move to the far end of the stands. Not that he didn't want to, of course, this kept him away from the majority of the people, and closer to the swimmers. Soon, the competition started up with some races. Several different schools were represented, and Fuurinkan won almost as may times as it lost. One of Taiiku's events came up, the high dive, and Ranma snapped back to attention, so that he wouldn't miss anything. Taiiku stood up on the platform, and smiled, before executing a near perfect dive, cutting the surface of the water with hardly a splash. The judges gave her fairly decent scores, enough to secure her a spot on the top three. The end of the meet came, and while Fuurinkan didn't win as many events as the team would have liked to, you could see that the team was still proud of its performance.   
  
After most of the people had left, Taiiku came over to where Ranma and Akama were seated. Taiiku had removed her diving cap, but she was still in her swimsuit, with only a towel across her shoulders. She had her duffel bag with her, as well, carried firmly in her hand. Smiling at Ranma, she said, "Thanks a lot for coming, Ranma. It really means a lot to me to have friends here to support me."  
  
"I... um... Enjoyed watching you. Thanks for inviting me." Ranma said. He didn't notice it, but he was staring at Taiiku as she put down her bag, and pulled out a pair of shorts, putting them on. Akama did notice though, and snickered lightly, elbowing her brother.  
  
"Hey, stop that." Ranma whispered.  
  
"You're staring at her harder than the panda does a big meal, Ranma. Stop *that.*" Akama whispered back.  
  
"So, Ranma, I guess you got to see some of how this goes. I can't wait until you join the team, I'll have a lot to teach you." Taiiku said, flipping her slightly messy brown tresses behind her. Her green eyes flashed at Ranma in a wink, and that made a bright pink color flush over his cheeks. Taiiku giggled, and impulsively kissed one of Ranma's flushed cheeks, before skipping off to the locker room. "See you tomorrow, Ranma!" Taiiku called back.  
  
Akama laughed out loud as soon as Taiiku had retreated into the locker room, then Akama put her arm around her brother's shoulders. "She is pretty cute. Talented too, athletic. She seems to like you, Ranma. That little kiss was definitely a flirt. Good goin' Ranma."  
  
Ranma put a hand on his cheek and sighed happily, looking down. He *would * love when he got on the team, but how would he act around Taiiku? Before that, though, he'd atleast need a swimsuit. "Hey Sis, Can I ask you something?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Sure, go ahead, Ranma." Akama said.  
  
"Would you... Help me pick out a swimsuit for the team? I'd ask mom, but... You know how she gets with shopping sometimes, especially for me when I'm a girl." Ranma said.  
  
"Sure, Ranma. You 'an me'll go." Akama said. "Just don't expect me to get all girlie and tell you what color looks better on you or anything."  
  
"Sure." Ranma said, smirking, "I'd *never* expect my sister to act like a girl." Ranma laughed a bit, putting her arm around Akama's shoulder.  
  
"Hey, be quiet. I'm plenty feminine." Akama said.  
  
"Oh, Sis... You know I'm just playing around with you. Let's see if we can find one before we go home so Mom can't get me to go later." Ranma said.  
  
"Sounds good." Akama said. The two of them started for a nearby shopping mall, still carrying their backpacks, and still dressed in their uniforms. They soon arrived at their destination, a not overly tall building. The two went in and quickly found their way to a shop decorated with a window display showing scenes of water activities, a large yellow and orange paper sun, and sand. The mannequins in the display looked terribly over-excited, and Akama couldn't help but chuckle.  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma had already rushed in and started looking around, muttering to herself. "This one? No, too skimpy... This one? No, I don't like purple. This one? Naah, I need a one-piece, probably." Hoping to lessen the stress of this particular shopping excursion, Ranma resolved to buy the next suit he grabbed, provided it was the right size. He reached into the rack, eyes closed, and pulled out a blue, one piece suit, with a print of water drops across the front. Once his hands made contact with the material, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Wow... This is cute." Ranma said. "Right size too... Guess I'll get this one." Ranma proceeded to the checkout, and paid for the suit, blushing and laughing when the clerk asked if it was a present. "Yeah... A girl I know is joining the swimming team." Ranma said.  
  
Akama had slipped into the store, and secretly picked out a small two piece, bright red bikini that had caught her eye. For some reason, she'd felt hurt at her brother's comment about her femininity. Such things weren't all that important in Akama's life, although every once in a while, she'd get this little tingling of a feeling that said it wanted to be girlie, if only for a little. Giving in to the feeling eventually, as she did most times, she waited until Ranma left, and paid for the suit. The clerk smiled broadly and said how nice she thought it'd look on Akama. Laughing very nervously, and staring at the floor, Akama mumbled some small thanks, then rushed out of the store. Unfortunately, she forgot to hide the sack, and her brother immediately questioned her when they met up again.  
  
"What's in the sack, Sis?" Ranma asked. "You didn't get a new suit, did you?"  
  
"Um.. ehe.. No!" Akama replied. Ranma wasn't at all convinced, but he decided to stay quiet about it, instead pulling out the suit he'd bought. "Looks great, Ranma." Akama said, very disinterested, and only wanting to get home to hide the garment that she felt so happy, and at the same time, guilty, for buying. They did get home, but not before Ranma's restraint broke, and several attempts to peek inside the bag were made. Ranma didn't ever get to actually see what her sister bought, and as they came through the front door of their house, Ranma's curiosity faded again. Akama sighed, as she walked into her room and took out the smallish swimwear, holding it to her body.   
  
'Hey, stop that. You're not one of those stuck up preppy girls, Akama.' A nagging voice in her head said.  
  
"....But I am a girl." Akama whispered, before tucking the swimsuit away in a back drawer.  
  
Meanwhile, Akane was smiling brightly as Ranma showed her mother the new suit. "Oh, it's beautiful, Ranma." Akane said. "Go try it on!" Ranma walked into the bathroom, a bit excited herself. A splash of cold water, and some changed clothes, and Ranma came back out in the somewhat tightly fitting blue garment. All in all, Ranma actually made quite the cute swimmer. Akane gasped and smiled, rushing over and hugging her daughter tightly. "You look great, Ranma. That swimsuit is a little more... clingy... than what I'd prefer, but I guess I can let you keep it." Akane said.  
  
Ranma Sr. walked in just then, and smiled brightly. "You look very cute, dear. Is that your suit for the swim team?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah.. dad..." Ranma replied, embarrassed already at the attention she was getting. "I think I'm going to go show Akama." Red-faced, Ranma hurried off to her sister's room. She opened the door, and apparently surprised Akama. Ranma saw her sister hurriedly stuff away some little something, before turning around.  
  
"Oh, hey Sis." Akama said, pretending like everything was normal. "Wow, looking good. 's probably good you don't like guys... ya know, romantically. You'd get way too many dates looking like that." A smirk went over Akama's face, as she said the last comment.  
  
"Who says I'm *not* interested in guys?" Ranma said, smirking right back. "Just because Taiiku happens to be a very cute girl, doesn't mean I don't notice guys." Ranma was, of course, lying, but this is what went on between the sisters, a constant teasing cycle.  
  
"Oh, be quiet. I know ya don't like guys." Akama said. "You do look cute though, Sis."  
  
"Thanks. It means a lot to me, Akama." Ranma said, hugging her sister tightly.  
  
"Go on, huh? You're interruptin' me." Akama said, after hugging back. Ranma left slowly, closing the door behind her. Akama moved over, and pressed in the lock with a shallow click. She went over and pulled the two-piece suit from her drawer once again, going over the material in her hands. "I don't want to be one 'a them preppy snobs only worried about boys 'n clothes and girlie stuff like that. I jus' can't do that... I feel like I have to act more like a girl though. Man, I'm jus' thinkin' screwy. I'm feminine enough how I am..." After a frighteningly long period of doing absolutely nothing but going back and forth in her head, Akama pulled off her uniform. Looking at herself in the large mirror in her room for just a moment, she blushed brightly, seeing a body that looked eerily like her sister's. After shaking her head to rid this notion, she pulled on the two pieces of the swimsuit, and looked again into the mirror. The bottom part rested just on her hips, and covered all the necessary areas, while at the same time showing off her toned, muscular legs and thighs. The top part held her in place decently enough, giving the suit a nice shape. Akama blushed again, realizing how unrestrained her femininity was going for the time being. She didn't mind that much, actually, she sort of liked it. That nagging voice came back to her head, telling her to stop acting so silly and go train. Akama pulled off the swimsuit, and re-dressed, heading out back. "I ain't gonna be one 'a them frilly idiots, but I don't have to act like some man either. I'm gonna start bein' me." Akama thought, as she started her warm-up. 


	4. Chapter 4

Children : Chapter 4  
  
Akama woke up, blinking. She felt strange, and as she looked around, she slowly came to realize that her room had been re-arranged. The room around her had pinkish painted walls, a huge vanity mirror with a table, and a very large set of drawers. The bed Akama was laying in had fluffy pink sheets, and a huge pink comforter, along with frilly white pillows. Akama was not happy about this, although she was impressed that someone managed to do all of this without waking her. Little did Akama know, she was not actually awake. Akama got up from this dreamed bed, completely unaware of her situation. She moved to the large closet, and opened it, revealing rack after rack of amazingly beautiful gowns, and other equally beautiful casual dresses. "Ugh. All this girlie stuff, I'm gonna get whoever did this. They should know better than ta' break inta' my room and steal all my clothes." Akama said, continuing to look around the room. Eventually, her eyes fell on the mirror, and for some reason, Akama felt drawn to sit down in front of it. "Creepy... It's like that mirror wants me ta' give it a closer look." Akama said, turning away. As she did, however, she found herself falling into the chair that was pulled out in front of the table. Shaking her head, Akama yelled out loud. "Alright! This ain't funny! Let me outta this crazy room!"  
  
A shadowy figure appeared in the mirror, and to Akama's amazement, it looked exactly like her, only wearing a very nice long white dress. The Mirror-Akama's lips moved, and to the surprise of the one in front of the mirror, her own voice was heard. "Akama... Look at me." The mirror said. "Don't worry."  
  
"Man, I'm goin' crazy." Akama said. "First I sleep right through someone totally rearrangin' my stuff, then this freaky mirror's tellin' me what to do. I guess weirdness is a Saotome trait, heh.."  
  
"Look, Akama. Please." The mirror voice said.  
  
"Alright, alright, quit buggin' me. Man, if that's supposed to be me like it looks like, I'm annoying!" Akama said, looking at the mirror. Akama's gaze met the mirror image's eyes, and a bright flash lit up the room. "Gah!" Akama exclaimed, rubbing her eyes. When the light died down, her mirror image was standing next to her. Akama had heard people go on about how nice she looked in a dress, but until now, she'd never really seen it for herself. "Nice dress." Akama said, sarcastically, fighting the sneaky feeling she had that she'd been wrong when she insisted she didn't look good like she was seeing herself.  
  
"Sarcasm, huh? That's ok. I know you have to be confused." The mirror image said. "I guess I should explain. I'm you... Well, the part you hide. I know that I could never be you, you're not the girl that's supposed to live in this room. This is my room. All those clothes over there are all the times someone's said you were pretty, or gave you a compliment on some other thing about your looks."  
  
"So, I'm... in my head?" Akama asked.  
  
"Something like that, I suppose. You've been thinking a lot lately about how girlie your brother acts, haven't you?" The mirror image said.  
  
"Hmph. It's shameful. He's a guy. What's he doin' runnin' around in them skirts 'n dresses 'n frilly things. I know he's never really been in'ta martial arts and stuff, but he almost seems more like he's a girl sometimes. He even wears girlie pajamas and... ya know.. Underclothes. I'm tryin' so hard not to be one 'a them brainless pretty faces, and there my brother is. He acts like twenty times the girl that I am, and he's actually a guy!" Akama said.  
  
  
  
"That upset you, Akama? That your brother's more of a girl than you?" The mirror asked.  
  
"Naah, not really. I know it's gotta be hard for him, I just wish he'd act more like he's s'posed to." Akama said.  
  
"Oh? That's sort of funny, Akama." The mirror image said. "You want your brother to act like he's supposed to?"  
  
"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" Akama said, harshly. She glanced down at herself, and saw that she had her dad's old outfit on, somehow. "Ok, ok, I get it... I'm not exactly actin' how everyone thinks I'm s'posed to either. But I'm just trying to be me." She said.  
  
"Akama, all you have to do is follow your heart. Remember that." The mirror image said, her voice sounding more and more like a buzzer, or an alarm. Suddenly, Akama's eyes opened, and she gasped, looking around at the surroundings she was used to.  
  
"That was a weird dream... Wonder what I ate last night to make that..." Akama said. 'Follow your heart..' Echoed in the back of her mind. "Follow my heart, what kind of nonsense is that... I am followin' my heart. Like, right now I'm gonna follow it out back and spar with dad like I always do." Akama sighed and hopped out of bed, blushing as she saw her body, the same body that betrayed what she tried so hard to be, the body that was clothed in delicate undergarments, the body that could not possibly be a male's. Shuddering, Akama started talking to herself again. "Look, I can't deal with this, ok? I know I'm a girl. What're you tryin' to prove? I'm just as strong as any of them! I'm just as good. Everyone knows they can't mess with me!" Akama said, adding softly, "....like they mess with Ranma..." For a second, Akama looked at the small, disused mirrored table in her room. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "I don't want to be just a regular girl... I want to be a great martial artist like Pop. I can't give up on that. I gotta be strong." Akama said all this, then cursed her luck. "Why do I feel like I gotta choose between being who I want, and being who I am? I know I'm a girl.. I know it, ok? I can't get away from it..." Akama sighed heavily, changing into her training clothes. She purposely forgot to put on the uncomfortable bandages she usually used to hide her chest, thinking that she'd wasted enough time talking to herself, and that they hurt, anyway.  
  
"Ah, there you are." Ranma Sr. said. "Miss your alarm this morning, Student?"  
  
"No, sir." Akama said. "I was... um.." She blushed, not wanting to finish what she had to say. "Yes, sir. I missed my alarm. It won't happen again."  
  
"Akama, I was only teasing. You don't have to be so formal with me." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I don't?" Akama blinked. That dream had thrown her off more than she thought.  
  
"Do I usually lie to you?" Ranma Sr. asked.  
  
"No, dad... You don't." Akama smiled, and went over to hug him. A smile crept across Ranma Sr.'s face, then they took up positions and began their morning exercise. Following their normal pattern, Akama would appear to be winning, then Ranma Sr. would quickly regain the upper hand, and hold it for the remainder of the time they practiced.   
  
As the intense session came to a close, the two sparring partners were breathing heavily, resting their elbows on their knees. Something about the morning's session had bothered Ranma Sr., It seemed to him that Akama's mind was occupied with something other than the match, which was all that was on the young girl's mind usually. Today, however, it seemed to be missing. Ranma Sr. walked over to Akama, carrying one towel in his hand, with another around his neck. Once he reached his daughter, at the opposite end, he handed her a towel, and spoke up. "Akama, dear, is something wrong? You seemed to not have your mind on the match." He asked.  
  
Akama blinked, then cursed at herself. How could she still be worrying about that? At any rate, her father had noticed, and now she'd have to tell him the truth. There was no use in lying, when the person you were trying to lie to had such a grand history dealing with deception. Akama cleared her throat, and explained about the dream, finishing up by saying, "I just don't know what it's supposed ta' mean, Pop. I always thought I was bein' myself."   
  
Ranma Sr. sat down next to his daughter, and sighed. "Akama, you were never the kind of girl that was interested in girlish things, and your mother and I both had no problem with that. After all, your mother was quite a bit like you when she was younger. We neither one found it odd that you'd not have interest in fashion, or shopping, or gossiping, like we'd remembered other young girls doing when we were younger. The important part was that you were always happy with how you were. Your mother and I felt comfortable with your personality, because you were always happy to be who you were, or at least you seemed that way. Akama, do you *want* to be more like other girls?" Ranma Sr. asked.  
  
"I definitely don't wanna' be one a' them bubbly air-heads that haveta' get up two hours early every morning to do their makeup just so they can make goofy faces at the guys, if that's what you're askin'." Akama said.  
  
"No, no, that's not it at all, Akama. Those girls are only interested in one thing, and it's certainly not the art, or their school work. Believe me, I knew those sorts of girls, and I wouldn't want you to become one of them either. I just wanted to know if you felt like you weren't... feminine enough." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Hey, who're you to be talkin' about femininity, Pops!" Akama snapped.  
  
"Oh, I know a thing or two, Akama. Don't forget who you're talking to." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Heh... Sorry. I jus' meant that you've spent almost your whole life tryin' ta' be the 'man among men'. I don't quite see how ya learned about femininity in there. Ya got your curse and all, but that don't really make you feminine... it's just a body." Akama said.  
  
Ranma Sr. sighed, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before speaking up again. "Akama, I know you look up to me. I know that, even though I've tried to keep you from it, your grandpa might have tried to steer you onto the same path he got me on. This doesn't have anything to do with anything he's said, does it? He's definitely got some crazy ideas about women."  
  
"Naah, I never listen to that old panda anyway." Akama said. Even though she wouldn't admit it, and was most likely not aware of it, Genma's words had made some impact on Akama's way of thinking. 'Girls are weak', 'An embarrassment to the art', 'Your brother disgraces the family'. Things like these, and other similar statements had left a deep resentment in her, and also a strong longing to not be a weak embarrassment like her grandfather often said other women were.  
  
"Your grandfather could teach you many things, Akama, you should listen to him occasionally. The exception is when he's talking about women. He is very old-fashioned and set in his ways. I would never want you to fall into the trap of believing that your femininity somehow made you worse than a man. Your grandfather said things to me when I was growing up, and I had no way of knowing how wrong they'd prove to be, so for most of my life, I believed exactly what he told me, that girls and women only served as weak distractions, and that they could never be as good as a man could be. You can probably imagine what sixteen or so years of that sort of thinking did to me when I fell in at jusenkyo." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Must a' been pretty hard..." Akama said. "You ain't like that now though, how'd you get over it?" Akama asked.  
  
"Well, it was a slow trip, for one." Ranma Sr. said, chuckling. "I seemed to meet strong, skillful women, the kind that went against what your grandfather said, everywhere I went. Then, I finally met your grandmother again. Her, along with your mother, and all the other women in my life, slowly taught me that not only were women capable of things that men weren't, but sometimes women could do more than men, if they put their mind to it. Eventually, I understood that there are certain things that men do well, and certain things that women do well, and also, that anyone who wants something bad enough, can achieve it. Male or female."  
  
"I understand what you're sayin' Pop. I just don't' *want* to be some cheesy girl though. I can't stand wearin' a stupid skirt, and don't even get me started on jewelry, or makeup, or fancy dresses, or those crazy high heeled shoes Ranma wears. I just wanna be me, ya know? I wanna be a great martial artist like you. I don't have time for all that extra stuff." Akama said.   
  
"I understand that. It's good that you have goals. You need to not let them run out the other aspects of your life, however... Akama, when you and your sister were born, and I was laying in the hospital holding the two of you girls... It was completely unlike any other feeling I've had before, or since. Do you want to be a mother, Akama? Do you want to be married?" Ranma Sr. asked.  
  
"Well..." Akama started to say something, but didn't finish, taking a moment to compose her thoughts. "I guess maybe some day I'd like to, pops. Right now though, like I said, I ain't got time to be a girl like all them. I ain't got time to mess around."  
  
"Akama, You're never going to be this age again. You should use this time wisely to figure out who you are, and who you want to be. Don't block off your options, and blindly throw yourself into the art. I would like a successor, but I would rather have a content daughter." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I'm happy enough, pops...." Akama said, in a completely unconvincing manner.  
  
Ranma Sr. sighed, putting his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Akama, it doesn't sound like you believe that. If the problem is that you want to act more feminine, perhaps you and your sister could go out and do something... girlie. Perhaps the three of us should go out for a nice dinner sometime, just a mother and her daughters. Or maybe, you just need to do something different for a few days. Your mother wore dresses and things around the house quite a bit of the time, and no one would ever dare to say that she was a brainless air head." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Ya know, Pops... Maybe you're right..." Akama said, pausing before she finished her thought. "I mean, a true martial artist explores every possibility in order to improve, right?"  
  
"Right." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I suppose one girlie day with my sister wouldn't be so bad... Might even make Ranma happy too. She's been buggin' me to spend more time with her... So that settles it, I'll... go shoppin' or something with her. I'll even..." Akama nervously smiled, as she finished. "Put on a dress. If this don't make me feel any better about stuff, then I'm not gonna' keep doin' it."  
  
"Right." Ranma Sr. repeated.  
  
Akama turned, looking at her father. "That all you can say, Pops?" She said.  
  
"Right." Ranma Sr. replied, smirking. "You might want to work on your speech too, Akama. It's a bit harsh for a lady."  
  
"Oh brother, Now the old man's tellin' me I'm too harsh! What's next, he's gonna tell me that his Pops wasn't a lazy bum?" Akama said, smirking right back. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower. Thanks for talkin' to me... Dad."  
  
"Any time you want to, Akama." Ranma Sr. said. He then began straightening up the area where he had been practicing with his daughter, only to be interrupted by his son.  
  
"Hey, dad?" Ranma said, in a shyer sounding voice than was usually heard from him.  
  
"Yes, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Can I talk to you about... Um... about.. Girls?" Ranma stuttered and stumbled his way through the short sentence. His face was completely flushed in a bright pink, possibly due to the fact that she was a girl herself at times, and he was trying to have a father-son talk with his dad. His feelings for Taiiku could have played some small part as well, of course.  
  
"Sure... I suppose, what about them, Ranma?" Ranma Sr. smiled somewhat, although it was slightly nervously, anticipating what his sometimes daughter, sometimes son, was about to say.  
  
"Well, what do you do when you... um... Well, when a guy like me... uh... Ok. Here goes. Dad, what do you do when you start... Noticing that a certain girl is... well.. Really pretty, and smart, and talented, and she makes you laugh when you're together, and even when she sees some of the bad stuff about you, she doesn't run away?" Ranma said all of this, descending with some speed after getting over his initial discomfort.  
  
"It's that swimmer girl, isn't it... I suspected you had a little crush on her, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Y-yeah, dad, it is. I noticed the other day that... I kinda felt weird when I was eating lunch with her, then when she went back to class, I got... well... a little sad, I suppose, and something else." Ranma was fiddling with the drawstring on his shorts by now, shyly spilling his secrets.  
  
"Yup, definitely a crush..." Ranma Sr. said, smiling. "It's ok, son. You're just growing up, and guys naturally notice girls when they're growing up. You probably need to find out how she feels about you, then maybe you could go on a few dates."  
  
"Yeah... What if she says she just likes me as a friend? Or what if she just thinks I'm another girl to hang out with?" Ranma asked.  
  
  
  
"Those are both possibilities, of course. If you don't take the risk though, son.... You'll never find out." Ranma Sr. said. "Ranma, I've got to go get cleaned up now. I think your sister was wanting to go shopping with you, you might look for her."  
  
"That doesn't sound too much like *my* sister. That definitely sounds like a girl. Akama's too much of a tomboy to want to go shopping, unless there's something really specific she wants... I guess I'll go see what's up though." Ranma said.  
  
"Ranma..." Ranma Sr. said, "Don't pick on your sister. You may not notice it, but teasing bothers everyone, sometimes the people that don't show it, the most."  
  
"Alright, dad..." Ranma said. He headed inside, to his room. Before he got there, however, Akama walked out of the bathroom. This was not unusual, except for the fact that she was wearing a very nice casual dress, the sort that you would expect a girl her age to wear if the mood struck her to be wearing a dress around the house. Ranma opened his mouth to say something about 'what alien kidnapped my sister and left this girl here?", then he remembered what their father had just said, and what came out when Ranma spoke was a rather nice compliment. "Hey, Akama, you look really nice. That dress looks good on you.' A sincere smile confirmed the non-teasing nature of the words, and a gentle blush swept over Akama's face.  
  
"Heh.. Thanks, Ranma..." Akama said, turning away as she continued. "Um... Would you want to... Maybe... Go shopping? After that, we could go get some ice cream or something."  
  
Ranma blinked several times, then responded slowly, and softly, "Yeah, sure, sis. Want me to go like this, or is this supposed to be some special sister thing?"  
  
"It's...um... The sister thing." Akama said. She was messing with her hair a bit, she couldn't look terrible going out, after all. 'If you're gonna do something, do it right', right? Of course, this minor bit of preparation didn't include any perfume, or cosmetics beyond a very light application of lipstick. The dress itself was very plain, as were the cute, simple shoes and white socks she wore.  
  
"Well, let me go get changed real quick... And by real quick I mean 'real quick' for me.. heh.." Ranma said, retreating to his room to get changed.  
  
"Guess it'll be a few minutes then... Time to get used to this... Hi, I'm Akama. It's very nice to meet you Mr. So-and-so... How in the world does she do this? I guess it isn't very ladylike to talk like I'm usedta' talkin' though. Maybe just for today, I'll try ta' be a little more proper." Akama was rehearsing talking, to herself in the mirror. Eventually, Ranma emerged from her room, having put on a dress that was similar in style to Akama's, only longer. Her hair had been brushed out a bit, leaving a nice cascade of crimson locks flowing to her shoulders. As expected, Ranma had put on a bit of lipstick as well, and she had two silver earrings clipped to her ears.  
  
"I'm ready, Sis. Do I look ok?" Ranma asked, fiddling with a few loose strands of hair.  
  
"Of course you look ok, Sis. You're a cute girl. Hey, you're my sister besides, you have to look good, it's in your blood." Akama said, smiling.  
  
"Thanks, Akama..." Ranma said, blushing a bit. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking... When did this all hit you, Sis?"  
  
"I just... I want to see what this whole girlie thing is like, and I don't know anyone better to figure it out with than my sister." Akama said.  
  
"Well, I'm glad to help you, Akama, did you just want to.. um... Go out and shop some? Maybe you'll even meet a cute guy, huh?" Ranma said, thinking shortly after that teasing was perhaps not the best course of action.  
  
"Don't go overboard, Ranma. I'm just seein' if I like this or not. I never did really give bein' a 'girl' a fair chance. I'm just doin what I think I need to, alright?" Akama said.  
  
"Ok." Ranma said. Apparently their dad knew more than he told Ranma, because when Ranma popped out of the confines of the hall by their bedrooms, Ranma Sr. took Akane off into another part of the house. "Hey... Dad just distracted Mom for us, so I think we can go now." Ranma said.  
  
Akama smiled, and took her sister's hand, walking out the front door without another sound. Ranma Sr., would tell Akane later, where they went, but that didn't change the fact that they got out of the house without any motherly enthusiasm at seeing her tomboy daughter in a dress. 'Well, are you happy now?' She thought to herself.  
  
"Well, Akama." Ranma said, letting her hand drop from her sister's. "What do you want to do? Just go wander around the mall for a little while?"  
  
"Sounds good, yeah..." Akama said. She was still trying to get past the uncomfortable aspect of wearing a dress, she felt so much less secure than when she had a nice pair of pants and a shirt on. Every little breeze fluttered the material of the dress, and the cut of the dress seemed to be such that it held onto her more prominent curved areas tighter than other places. Still, she was resolved to act feminine at least while they were out doing this 'sister thing', and when Akama Saotome said she was going to do something, she did it.  
  
"Hey, Akama." Ranma said, looking over at her sister.  
  
"Yeah?" Akama answered.  
  
"I'm sorry for always teasing you about how you don't act like other girls all the time... Truth is, I like you just the way you are. You're the only sister I've got." Ranma said.  
  
"Thanks... Ranma." Akama said. She sighed a bit, then looked down and started talking again. "About that whole 'being a woman', and pregnancy and stuff... What do you think about it?"  
  
"If you're asking me whether you're gonna be a bride's sister, or a groom's sister... I can't really tell you. I mean.. I've sort of been noticing the girls, and I think I'm gonna ask Taiiku out, but... Well, I am sort of staring at the guys a bit too long lately, when I'm a girl. It's probably nothing, just people-watching... Still, I don't know what to think really, Sis. I think that we just do the best we can, and life usually will turn out good. I try to be happy as a girl, and a guy. Doing sister stuff like this is probably better for the girl part though." Ranma finished up this rather long answer with a giggle, moving over to hug her sister lightly.  
  
"You do want to have... you know, a family and get married and all that, right?" Akama asked.  
  
"Well, sure, Sis. You don't have to be a girl to want a family and a future..." Ranma said.  
  
Akama laughed nervously, "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Sis." Akama paused for a moment, then she continued "Hey, don't worry about that staring at guys thing... I caught myself doing it a few days ago." She smirked, and they continued off down the road. Akama found herself actually looking forward to whatever was going to happen on this little sisterly outing, and that smirk found itself slowly turning into a smile, as the two girls walked side-by-side. 


	5. Chapter 5

Children: Chapter 5   
  
The sudden sisterly outing confused Ranma. This was apparent in the way Ranma kept asking Akama questions, the same questions, at that. Other than the questions, similar thoughts ran through Ranma's mind. Why, all of the sudden was her normally less-than-girlie sister displaying an urge to do a 'sisterly' thing, especially something so stereotypically feminine as shopping?  
  
"Well," Ranma said, "Did you need anything in particular, Sis?"  
  
"No, not really... Don't have that much money either, so I probably won't buy anything. You don't mind just looking around with me, do you Sis?" Akama replied.  
  
"Of course not... This... Just isn't like you. You're sure it's not anything I've said, right? I know we talk to each other...." Ranma said, trailing off.  
  
"No, come on, I already told you, It's just... I wanted to do something unlike me. Maybe you'll believe me this time, huh? I've only told you three times, maybe you could use another few." Akama smiled a bit, the corners of her mouth tugging up teasingly.  
  
"Hey, these earrings don't make me deaf, just cute." Ranma said, giggling and putting her arm around her sister's shoulder. "I guess, well, you caught me off-guard. I knew you were good at doing that to mom and dad, just not me."  
  
"Well, now you know. Your sister is none other than Akama Saotome, master of surprise." Akama laughed just faintly enough for it to be heard, as she wrapped her arm back around Ranma's shoulder. "If you're this confused, I wonder what's going on at home..." Akama said.  
  
"Are you ok, Dear?" Ranma Sr. said, sitting beside his wife on the couch.  
  
"So... What you're saying is... Akama and Ranma went out shopping. Akama AND Ranma? You mean that Akama put on nice clothes, and asked Ranma to go shopping with her? Why'd you drag me off like that then? I wish I could have seen my daughter in a dress for once..." Akane was blinking rapidly, having perhaps a worse time with her confusion than Ranma had.  
  
Ranma Sr. chuckled nervously. "Akane... You can be a little overbearing." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
'I'll show him overbearing...' Akane thought, pictures of huge mallets chasing her husband down the street flashing in her vision. She spoke up, after smiling a bit too enthusiastically. "Ranma, Dear, I am *not* overbearing. I'm just confused. Did you say something to her to make her do this?" A slightly irritated glare shot its way over.  
  
Ranma Sr. chuckled again, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... Akama *did* tell me a few things... She had a strange dream last night, it seems. I think she's feeling like she's not as feminine as she'd like. I think maybe my idiot father has been running off at the mouth again, too. This is a hard age, Akane, I think that our daughter is just growing up, and trying to figure herself out."  
  
"I remember when I was that age..." A low grumbling noise could be heard in Akane's direction. "I never did want to be like those girls who spent more time on their hair than they did studying. I wish Akama had come to me... What am I doing wrong, Ranma?" Akane said.  
  
Moving quickly, Ranma Sr. pulled his wife into his lap. "Oh, Akane... You're not doing anything wrong. She didn't exactly come to me either; I just noticed that she seemed a bit upset this morning. I asked her, and she told me. I'm sure if you'd seen her first, she would have been talking to you. I'm sure."  
  
"Are you *really* sure, Ranma? I get the feeling that our children feel more comfortable around you." Akane said.  
  
"I am positive, Akane. Just... When Akama comes home, Tell her that she looks nice." Ranma Sr. said, Akane cutting him off.  
  
"Of course I'm going to tell her she looks nice, Dear, I have been a mother for quite a while now. Maybe I could even get her to go back out shopping with *me* this time. I think I'll ask her if she wants to talk, too." Akane said.  
  
Ranma spoke back up, chuckling once more. "Akane, Dear... Perhaps you should just try to get her to talk later tonight. I bet she'll be more ready if she has a little time to rest after she gets home. Sometime after dinner might be better for you to talk with her. I don't think it'll go well if you jump on her right when she walks in."  
  
"Ranma, I know you mean well..." Akane said. "But you're dangerously close to getting a mallet to the head." Akane smiled mischievously, and kissed her husband on the cheek.  
  
"I like the kiss a lot more than the mallet, Akane..." A similar smile crossed Ranma Sr.'s face, as he turned Akane around in his lap. Once he had, he leaned in close and placed a delicate kiss upon Akane's lips.  
  
A bright red flush swept over Akane's face, and she said, "Alright, no mallet... You *are* a good kisser." Ranma Sr. grinned, and swept Akane into his arms, carrying her off to the bedroom.  
  
"They're probably fighting." Ranma said, answering her sister's wondering. "Did you see how Dad got in Mom's way? She *hates* that. I just hope Mom uses the small mallet this time, Dad makes *me* repair the holes in the wall."   
  
"You're right... Wow, looks like we're here already." Akama said. They had hardly noticed the distances slip away from them, talking and laughing as they were.  
  
"Wow's right, Sis... Guess you're just good to travel with, huh? Not like that friend of Dad's. His name was Ryouga, right? He showed up two weeks late that one time. Him and Dad were supposed to have some big match, remember?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yeah, I remember." Akama said. "Remember when he got lost going' from the kitchen to the living room?"  
  
"Yeah... Still don't know how he pulled that off, though." Ranma said. The two girls laughed a bit, as they walked into the rather spacious shopping mall."We're going to have a great time, Sis, you just wait..." Suddenly, Ranma got quiet, her face went red, and she tried to hide behind her sister.  
  
"What're you doing, Ranma?" Akama said, only to be met with urgings to be quiet, and a slim finger pointed toward a crowd of girls, one in particular. Akama looked over, and standing in a group of girls she recognized from school, was Taiiku. "Oh, give me a break, She's already seen you like this, Ranma." Akama said.  
  
"Yeah... But... Um... I sort of... well... Don't let her see me, maybe we can go to a different store than them." Ranma said, still hiding. Unfortunately, Taiiku spotted Akama standing by the doors, and she excused herself from the group of girls she was talking to, walking over to Akama instead.   
  
"Hey... Akama right?" Taiiku said. Akama nodded her head and smiled, as Taiiku started talking again. "Wow... you look really nice. New dress?" She said.  
  
"Yeah, something like that. Thanks, You look.. uh.. cute yourself." Akama said.   
  
A flash of red hair could be seen then behind Akama, and Taiiku grinned. Ranma was so adorable, being shy like this and hiding from her. "Well, I guess I'll just go catch up with my friends now..." She said, and then took a few steps in place, making clicking noises on the ground with her shoes. Ranma peeked out, and her face exploded in red.   
  
"Hey! That's not funny!" Ranma squealed. Taiiku was giggling very cutely, and Akama seemed to be enjoying it, by the small smile creeping on her face.  
  
"I thought it was very funny, Ranma." Taiiku said. Her cute green eyes were sparkling; her curled-into-a-smile lips were frosted over with a pink gloss.  
  
"She did get you, Sis. It was pretty funny." Akama said.  
  
"Oh, thanks a lot for the support, Sis." Ranma said, stepping out from her hiding spot the rest of the way. Ranma's eyes settled into a gaze with Taiiku's, and the two girls blushed, both turning away shyly. Akama snickered a bit to herself, but she didn't let it show.  
  
"Well... You two want to come to that new store they just opened, with me?" Taiiku said, trying to hide the receding blush on her face by digging for something in her purse.  
  
Ranma nodded, and looked over to Akama, "You want to, Sis? I heard it's supposed to have some really cute clothes. They just finished building it a few weeks ago, and it opened last week."  
  
Akama pondered over this for a while, but eventually she cracked a smile that could have almost been taken as feminine, and nodded. "Sure. Why not, huh?" She said. The next few hours found themselves filled with a flurry of reluctant cosmetic-counter makeovers, dressing room discussions, and several exclamations of 'Oh, you *have* to get this.' Akama actually rather enjoyed herself, not only did she get to spend time with her sister; she also made a new friend in Taiiku. One of the many times that Ranma saw a dress that she just couldn't resist trying on, Akama and Taiiku had a small conversation.  
  
"Hey, Akama... I've seen you around at school sometimes, I guess... Well, you seem lonely. Sorry I haven't said something before... I mean, after I met Ranma, I saw he was nothing like all the girls said he was, so I started thinking about what they said about other people. You really seem like a great girl, so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to be friends, or something." Taiiku said.  
  
Akama blinked, and looked down, burying her hands in the folds of her dress. She felt very uncomfortable, not only with the cosmetic counter lady's makeup adorning her face, or the wispy dress that folded around her legs as she sat, but with the realization that she *was* lonely. If other people could tell so easily, how could she have missed it? Looking up again, Akama noticed a look on Taiiku's face that Akama knew was a signal that an answer was expected. Slowly, she spoke up. "Don't know why you'd want to be friends with someone like me... I'm not really anything like those other girls I saw you with. I'm having' fun and all, but I still can't wait to get home and wash this stuff off my face, and get into some nice pants and a T-shirt. I'm only out here shopping because my dad suggested I do something with Ranma today. I just don't see what we got in common, Taiiku."  
  
"Hey..." Taiiku said, putting a hand on Akama's shoulder gently, "You don't have to be like anyone else for me to think you're a nice person, Akama. Those other girls might do more of the same stuff I do, you're... well, you're really more fun to hang out with. Those other girls can be so snotty sometimes; I really don't like it when they start picking on other girls at school. It's just so pointless. They don't know what nice people they're missing out on knowing. So what if we don't have a lot in common."  
  
"I...I'm not... too good with people. I don't know what to say... I'd really like it if we were friends, Taiiku." Akama said, adding, "Hey... we do have *one* thing in common, though, if you think about it."  
  
"What's that?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"Really want to know?" Akama said, grinning widely.  
  
"Yeah, tell me, I'm curious." Taiiku said.  
  
Akama nudged Taiiku with her elbow, and pointed to the feminine figure exiting the dressing room. "Well, we both seem to be pretty fond of the same guy." Akama said. Taiiku's face flushed bright red, and she buried her face in her purse again, searching for some invisible object. Akama laughed lightly, as Ranma walked over to join them.  
  
"What's so funny, Sis?" Ranma said.  
  
"Oh, nothing, just talking..." Akama smiled happily. "Hey, that looks really nice on you, Sis."  
  
"Well, what do you think, Taiiku?" Ranma said. The dress she was currently wearing was certainly not the most expensive or fancy of the ones she'd tried on. It was a very simple pink dress with a skirt that flowed gently down to near Ranma's ankles, gathering in small folds at the bottom. Ranma's small white shoes barely peeked out from beneath the soft material, and her blue eyes were similarly peeking from behind curly red bangs.  
  
Taiiku looked up from her purse, and smiled. "Hey, that's cute." She said. 'Ranma... I hope you see that I don't mind your curse.' Taiiku thought.  
  
"You two... Thanks, both of you. I don't know though... It's a little tight around my chest, and do you really like this color?" Ranma said.  
  
Akama laughed, and spoke up. "Better the pink dress be on you, Sis. If you don't like it though, don't get it."  
  
"She's right, you know, if you don't like it..." Taiiku said.   
  
"Hmm. I think I'll just put it back. I spend enough money as it is." Ranma said. She walked back into the dressing room, and began to change clothes. Taiiku and Akama sat back down and started talking again.  
  
"Your brother really seems to have a positive outlook on things. It has to be hard not even knowing something so small like if you're a guy or a girl. I think he's great, he's so cute, and sweet. I know he's smart; he's one of the best students in the school. I notice how he acts around me, but it could just be that he just wants another girl to be friends with." Taiiku said.  
  
"Oh brother, you're pretty attracted to him, huh?" Akama asked.  
  
"Oh, really, you think so?" Taiiku said, giggling. "I don't know if he even feels anything like that for me though..."  
  
Akama sighed a little, and then she put her hand on Taiiku's shoulder. "I may not know a lot about stuff like this, relationships and talking to guys and all that... I know my brother though. He thinks you're a nice, sweet girl, and a friend. More than that, you'll have to ask him."  
  
Ranma came back out of the dressing room, wearing the outfit she came to the store in. Once she got back to where the two girls were sitting, she spoke up. "I don't know about the two of you... I could really go for something to eat. You two ready to go yet?" Ranma said.  
  
"Sure." Taiiku said, standing and smiling.  
  
"Yeah, I'm ready." Akama said. "Getting something to eat sounds good. You'll come with us, right, Taiiku?"  
  
"Of course I will. I haven't spent all day shopping with you to skip out on a snack." Taiiku said, smiling.  
  
'Maybe I can talk with her when we get something to eat...' Ranma thought.  
  
'Maybe I can talk with him when we get something to eat...' Taiiku thought.  
  
The three girls walked casually out of the store, and proceeded to the food court. Ranma, predictably, found herself drawn to the dessert-oriented shops, out of all the others. Akama followed Ranma, and Taiiku followed the two of them. Ranma remembered the times her father had told her about the times he put on a 'cute girl' act for food vendors, but Ranma wasn't nearly as showy or flirting as her father had been in his younger years. The three girls all eventually ordered, and sat down at a nearby table to enjoy their ice cream cones. Whether they were aware of it or not, Ranma and Taiiku were flirting with each other the entire time. Ranma's ice cream would dribble onto her cheek, and Taiiku would quickly lean over the table to wipe it off, then Ranma would blush and look down, then Taiiku would, and finally they'd both look up and giggle. With this process repeating several times, it became overwhelmingly sweet for Akama's tastes.  
  
"Hey, you two." Akama interrupted, as Ranma was taking the last bite of her cone, "I'm going to... Go use the restroom. Be back in a little, ok?"  
  
"Ok!" Taiiku and Ranma said, at the exact same time, before giggling again at this little speech coincidence.  
  
"Oh, brother..." Akama said, walking off to find the restroom.  
  
'Well, it's just us now. Should I say something to her about how I feel? Would she get angry at me for saying something while I'm a girl?' Ranma thought.  
  
'Is he going to say something while his sister is gone? He looks like he's really thinking hard... Now he's blushing! Maybe he's embarrassed that he's a girl right now. Oh, Ranma...' Taiiku thought.  
  
The two sat there silently for quite a while, both put their hands on the table, folded. Slowly, very slowly, Ranma unfolded her hands and brushed them against Taiiku's. A small spark of static jumped between them at the touch, and both girls looked up suddenly. Despite the obvious nervousness, and her almost crushing hesitant shyness, Ranma spoke up. "Taiiku... um... I want to tell you something..."  
  
"Go on, Ranma." Taiiku said, smiling brightly. She took the shy red-haired girl's hand into her own, slowly.  
  
"Well, um..." Ranma stumbled a bit, hesitating again. 'Just go on and say it. Look at her; she's holding your hand like that, and her eyes are sparkling. She's got to at least like you a little. What's the worst that could happen, you find out you have a really great friend?' Ranma thought.  
  
"Just take your time... Ranma. I...I'm not in any hurry." Taiiku said.  
  
"Ok... Here goes. Taiiku, I think that you're... I really like... I mean..." Shakily, Ranma said what she'd been preparing all day. Anyone around could sense the shyness of the redheaded girl, and not only because she was stuttering, or that she had cheeks the color of cotton candy. "I really think you're pretty, and sweet, and your hands are so soft, and you look so great in that outfit... You're a great swimmer, and a good friend. I wanted to see how you felt about me."  
  
A similarly colored tint started to creep into Taiiku's cheeks, as she responded. "Well, Ranma... I think you're a really sweet person. I know you're smart too. I think it's a shame that so many people pick on you just because of some silly curse. You're still you either way. And you're a pretty good friend. I'm really glad we met each other." Taiiku added to her speech, in her thoughts, what she was too shy to say out loud. 'I hope you don't want to *just* be friends...'  
  
Ranma smiled a bit, encouraged by what Taiiku had said. "I'm glad we met each other too. I was sort of thinking today... I had a lot of fun shopping with you. It was nice."  
  
"Yeah... It was really fun." Taiiku said.  
  
"Would you want to go to a movie or something with me tomorrow?" Ranma asked, lowering her head slightly.  
  
'Is he asking me out?' Taiiku thought, lowering her head as well. "Ranma, Are you asking me on a date?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"I'm sure trying to." Ranma answered, laughing nervously. "Taiiku, would you go out on a date with me tomorrow?"  
  
"I'd... love to, Ranma." Taiiku smiled, squeezing Ranma's hand lightly.  
  
"Really? That's... great!" Ranma happily exclaimed. 'See, it went better than you thought, Ranma. Trust yourself.' She thought.  
  
Taiiku grinned lightly, and poked Ranma's side, after separating their hands. "This is a date, right? You're asking me out on an *actual* date? Not going to both be wearing dresses, are we?"  
  
"Yeah, um... I meant a real date... Of course we won't be both wearing dresses." Ranma said, winking before adding, "I don't know what *you're* going to wear."  
  
"Oh, Ranma..." Taiiku said, giggling.  
  
Ranma smiled across the table at her, brightly.   
  
Akama smiled as well, from a table a few feet away. She had actually gone to the bathroom, but she got back in the middle of her sister's little conversation, so Akama had sat down quietly, a few tables away. She didn't mean to be spying, really, she was just concerned about her sister. 'Maybe a bit of Aunt Nabiki's rubbing off on me.' Akama thought, 'Wonder how her surveillance business is going now?' Akama shook her head and got up, walking over to where her sister was sitting. "Ready to go home, Ranma?" Akama said.  
  
"Sure, Sis." Ranma answered, smiling once more to Taiiku. At the tail end of their conversation, Ranma had gotten Taiiku's address. "See you tomorrow, Taiiku." Ranma said.  
  
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Taiiku said.  
  
The two girls walked out of the mall, and started on their way home. Once they were safely away from Taiiku, Akama spoke up. "So what was that about?" She asked, pretending not to know that the two had most likely just told each other about their feelings.  
  
"Oh, We're going to go to a movie tomorrow, nothing big." Ranma said.  
  
"You're *going* to a movie, or you're *taking her* to a movie?" Akama asked.  
  
"The..." Ranma coughed, "Second one." She said.  
  
"Really... So you finally asked her out. Good thing she said yes, that would have been embarrassing." Akama said.  
  
"Yeah, it would have been." Ranma said, sighing.  
  
"You might want to talk to Dad about something nice to wear, Ranma. You want to look your best, right?" Akama said.  
  
"Yeah, of course." Ranma said. She then looked over to her sister and asked, "So, did you have a good time, Sis?"  
  
Akama nodded, and smiled faintly. "It wasn't all that bad., I guess. I did have fun hanging out with you, Sis. You and Taiiku trying on all those outfits was a little much though, next time we do something... It has to be a little less girlie, alright? "  
  
"It's a deal, Sis... Especially if things go good with Taiiku, I'll be spending more time as a guy." Ranma said.  
  
"Yeah, I'd imagine so, huh? Especially if things start going really good, huh?" Akama said, elbowing her sister lightly in the side.  
  
Ranma blushed a deep red, and stayed silent as they continued their walk home. Back at home, Akane was in the kitchen preparing some food with Kasumi.  
  
"I was surprised that you called, Akane." Kasumi said. "It was so sudden... What got into you, hmm?"  
  
"Oh, nothing... Just felt like having my sister around. I couldn't resist a chance to see your new arrival either." Akane said.  
  
"He really is a blessing." Kasumi said, giggling a bit. Her stomach was still fairly swollen, as she hadn't lost but a small bit of the baby weight in the three weeks since the birth. "Father is absolutely in love with him. Tofu is as well." Kasumi added.  
  
"Good thing, considering he's your husband." Akane said, grinning.  
  
"Yes, that it is." Kasumi said, giggling in her sweet, innocent way.   
  
"What's been going on with Nabiki, have you heard?" Akane asked, "Last time I spoke with her, that boyfriend of hers wasn't particularly happy with her, or so she told me."  
  
"Oh, my, You've been busy, haven't you? Nabiki dumped him the week after my son was born. She came by, and I asked her how she'd been doing. She told me that he'd hit her, so she'd sent him to the hospital with three jaw fractures. It was pretty much over after that." Kasumi said.  
  
"Oh, my..." Akane commented.  
  
About that time, two cheerful voices could be heard in the front hallway. Akama and Ranma had made it home finally, and they were busily talking about Ranma's date, although it seemed more like a teasing session at times.   
  
"Be sure you don't run into any fountains, or sudden rainstorms, or that lady who always seems to be dumping water out her window when you're going by. You know, I think she's the daughter of the lady who used to do that to Dad..." Akama said.  
  
"Ok, I think I got it. Avoid cold water. I sure wish you would have told me this earlier, Sis, I could have saved myself the trouble of this whole 'turning into a girl' thing. If only I'd known to *avoid* cold water." Ranma said, smirking.  
  
Two heads peeked out of the kitchen, Kasumi's first, followed by Akane's. Kasumi soon spoke up, happy to see her niece and nephew, who was her niece at the moment. "Akama, Ranma! How are you?" Kasumi asked, smiling bright as ever.  
  
"Aunt Kasumi!" Akama exclaimed. "I didn't know you were coming over today..." A faint pinkish tint crept its way into Akama's cheeks, as the material of the dress she was wearing made itself known against her skin with a gentle flutter.  
  
"Oh, Hi, Aunt Kasumi, Nice to see you here." Ranma said.  
  
"You both look very pretty." Kasumi said.  
  
"Thanks... Aunt Kasumi." Akama said, feeling very uncomfortable. "I'm going to go change now, though." Akama finished, walking off to her room.  
  
Ranma moved into the kitchen and stood next to her aunt and mother for a second, before embracing each of them in a warm hug. "So, what brought you over, Aunt Kasumi?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Your mother called, something about wanting to see her sister. It was very sudden, actually." Kasumi answered.  
  
"You... came with your son, right, Aunt Kasumi?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yes, but I'm sorry, Ranma, he's sleeping." Kasumi said, smiling to help ease the frown forming on her niece's face. "We won't leave until after he wakes up, alright? I know you two have been getting to know each other." She finished.  
  
"Thanks, Aunt Kasumi!" Ranma squealed, hugging the taller woman in the feminine flowered apron.   
  
"Ranma, dear..." Akane said, wiping her hands off on her own apron. "Did you have a nice time with your sister this afternoon?"  
  
"Yeah, Mom, actually I did. We ran into... um... A girl I know from school, so the three of us went around the mall together. I tried on some really cute things, if you wanted to take me back up there and buy me some things, you could. I mean, if you really wanted to." Ranma said, smiling hopefully.  
  
"I'll try to control the overwhelming urge, Ranma." Akane said, winking. "Didn't you *just* get new clothes?" She asked.  
  
"Well, yeah... But those were new pants and shirts, I'm asking about new dresses." Ranma answered. She figured now was a good time to employ the Saotome Cursed Male Final Attack. 'Cute Overload.' Ranma's face slowly took on an expression that consisted of a crying puppy's eyes, and a pouting set of lips that could have melted the resolve of any person, man or woman. Ranma's red bangs seemed to flutter down to shade those puppy-dog eyes perfectly. Ranma *did* have the only teacher in this particular facet of the art, her father, so the move was being executed flawlessly. Ranma watched with hidden joy as little cracks appeared in Akane's resolve, before she finally gave in.  
  
"Oh, alright, but just this once, ok? And only because you've been doing so well in school lately, don't think that pathetic face you just gave me had anything to do with it." Akane said.  
  
"Why in the world would I think that, Mom?" Ranma asked, innocently, as her face shifted back to normal.  
  
"Oh, no reason." Akane said, laughing before continuing, "You definitely have your father in you, Ranma."  
  
"I know." Ranma said, with a grin. She wrapped her arms around her mother, and hugged tightly. "Thanks, Mom." 


	6. Chapter 6

Children: Chapter 6  
  
Akama rushed into her room and closed the door lightly. She didn't want to get yelled at while her aunt was visiting. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and sighed, seeing the cosmetic counter saleslady's product still adorning her face. "You know, Akama, you do look very nice." A voice from behind her said. Akama turned around to see her mother, and it wouldn't be noticed through the shades of color on her cheeks, but Akama blushed.  
  
"Aww, Mom..." Akama said, hearing the door close as she started to fumble with the zipper on the back of her dress. "Could ya help me with this, Mom?" Akama asked.  
  
'Just be gentle, Akane. Help her with her dress, and ask her how it went.' Akane thought, moving around to carefully slide the zipper down on her daughter's garment. She watched as her daughter quickly re-dressed in a baggy pair of pants and a bright blue T-shirt. Akane pulled the chair out from the makeup table, and sat, crossing her legs as she folded her hands in her lap. "So... How did it go, Akama?" Akane said.  
  
"Fine, I guess, Mom..." Akama said, rubbing at her face with a tissue.  
  
"Is there anything you want to talk about with me, Dear?" Akane asked.  
  
"Just how to get this stuff off my face, heh.." Akama said, chuckling nervously.  
  
"Come with me, Akama." Akane said, smiling softly as she led her daughter to the bathroom. "So..." Akane started, trying to be less 'overbearing'. "Your sister and you had a nice time then?"  
  
Reluctantly, Akama answered. "Yeah, it was pretty nice. One 'a Ranma's friends, that swimmer girl, was there. She came with us for a little bit. I was doin' good until Ranma came out of the dressing room in this tiny little pink dress. Why in the world does he have to be so... girly sometimes?" The mother and daughter pair ducked into the master bathroom, and Akane pulled out a small bottle of face cleanser from under the sink.  
  
"I'm glad you had a nice time, Dear." Akane said, taking a washcloth and getting it wet. "Put some of this on your face." She said. Akama applied a bit of the creamy cleanser to her face, feeling it tingle as it acted on the cosmetics. As Akane began to wipe away the coloring, she answered her daughter's question. "He doesn't really *have* to be, Akama. That's just how he is. I'm actually happier he turned out like this, rather than how your father handled it."  
  
"How'd dad deal with it? I mean, I've heard him talk about how he used to be..." Akama said, feeling her mother's gentle wiping on her face.  
  
"Well, he used to act completely like you would expect an idiotic, stubborn, *boy* to act like. He hardly ever acted like he even acknowledged that he had this other body. I remember quite a few times that he would sleep in... revealing positions. He never wore anything that even resembled female clothing, unless he was absolutely forced to. For a long time, it was like he thought he could escape his curse by acting like it just wasn't there. To make it worse, he thought he could escape the times that he was forced to act ladylike, by acting even more like a stupid *boy.* He could be so arrogant, and rude, and just... Immature." Akane said, still going over her daughter's face.  
  
"He sure doesn't act like that now, what happened?" Akama interrupted.  
  
"I was just getting to that." Akane said.   
  
"Oh... Sorry." Akama looked down, before her chin was lifted back up by her mother's hand.  
  
"It's alright, Akama. You've always had more in common with your father, I understand. You're 'daddy's little girl', after all." Akane said.  
  
"Hmph... I'm not a little girl, Mom." Akama said.  
  
"It's just an expression, dear. Don't worry." Akane said, tossing the color stained washcloth in a laundry basket. "Anyway, What happened with your father was that he grew up."  
  
"t know it had to be more than that, Mom. What do you mean?" Akama asked.  
  
"I'm just trying to say that I think he just eventually had to deal with himself, and how he'd changed. Getting dunked in that spring was scary for him, not that he'd have admitted it then, and he'd probably be reluctant now. He had to adjust to being a girl half the time, in one moment. People normally have years to figure out how to handle themselves. For your father, it was like waking up a completely different person. All the things he'd known before were totally wrong for this new person he was, and he just needed a little time to grow into it. It's sad that he took such a bad route along the way though... We hated each other at first, you know." Akane said.  
  
"What?" Akama asked, shocked. "But you and Dad... I mean... He loves you. He says it a hundred times a day, at least. It's not like I don't notice how he looks at you all goofy either, right before you two kiss each other in front of Ranma and I."  
  
"Of course we love each other now, dear. Back then, however, it was totally different. We fought constantly." Akane said.  
  
"Oh... Well, why'd you two fight?" Akama asked.  
  
"There's not really a simple answer, Akama. It was a mix of things we both did, misunderstandings, pressure from our fathers, and other things." Akane said.   
  
"So what's this got to do with why Ranma acts so girly, again?" Akama asked, blinking  
  
"Well, your father tried to cover up the fact that he was cursed, by acting like he *wasn't* cursed. He kept trying to be even more of what he was told was manly, to avoid having to face his girl-form. He just ended up making things worse, though. Your brother, however, had a much better start. He didn't have all the pressure, and he had time to grow up with his curse instead of having it forced on him suddenly. Your brother is dealing with his curse by not trying to ignore that it's there. He's made a decision, somewhere along the way in his life that this other body he has is just as much a part of him as your body is a part of you. He really does act the same way in either form, if you look close enough." Akane said.  
  
"Yeah... That is true, I mean, He's always nice to people, even when they aren't to him, and he's just as smart as a girl or a guy. He worries about how he looks, and laughs at the same stuff, whether he's a girl or a guy. I think I understand, Mom." Akama said.  
  
"Akama, dear... How are *you* feeling about yourself? It's nice that you're thinking about your brother, but..." Akane paused, taking a deep breath, before continuing, "Your father told me about your dream."  
  
"Aww, Mom... It was just a silly dream anyway. Didn't mean anything. I'm really doing fine." Akama said.  
  
"That's not what your father thinks." Akane said.  
  
"Dad's wrong then, Mom. I'm doing ok, really. I just had a weird dream. Dad and me had a little talk about it, I'm really ok." Akama said.  
  
"Your father seemed to think you weren't happy with yourself. He told me that he thought you were worried about... Well, your femininity." Akane said.  
  
"W-well... What if I am? I mean, everyone expects girls to be all frilly and cute and stuff. I'm just not like that, Mom. It's not like I can ever forget I'm a girl, either, I got this body, and... you know... my chest is getting bigger. And I've noticed my hands getting a lot smoother..." Akama trailed off, sighing.  
  
"Akama, It's alright to be unhappy with yourself." Akane said.  
  
"I'm supposed to be dad's heir, Mom. I'm supposed to carry on the school." Akama said. "How can I do that if I'm... weak?"  
  
"Akama, you are *not* weak. " Akane said.  
  
"Yeah, right, Mom. I can't even act like what a girl's supposed to without wanting to tear the stupid dress off, and throw those tiny little heeled shoes across the room. How am I supposed to be a good heir if I can't even do good at being a girl?" Akama asked.  
  
"You don't have to act how everyone else thinks you should, Akama. How did you feel today while you were with your sister and her friend?" Akane said.  
  
"It was... it was nice, I already told you. I liked spending time with Ranma, and I... sort of made friends with that swimmer girl Ranma likes. Her name's Taiiku. She really seems sweet, but we don't have anything in common really." Akama said.  
  
"How'd you feel about how you looked, Akama? Uncomfortable?" Akane asked.  
  
"Yeah... I mean, I felt weird. My legs were sort of cold, and the skirt kept brushing against them. The dress felt sort of nice though, a-around my chest... and my waist, it was like it clung to my body, but not tight, or anything, just... sort of comfortable." Akama sighed, fumbling for other words. A little bit of her told her to stop talking about this, that she was acting weak, not like she should. When she continued, her tone was a bit harsher. "Anyway, I feel much better now, this is much more my kind of outfit. It doesn't make me feel so silly like a dress does." Akama said.  
  
Akane paused for a second, and started talking. "I think I understand, Akama. Tell me if I have this right. You enjoyed hanging out with your sister, and another girl your age."  
  
"Yeah." Akama said, nodding  
  
"You enjoyed how the dress made you feel like a girl, but you're more comfortable in pants and shirts." Akane said.  
  
"Y-yeah..." Akama said.  
  
"It's not like you hate being a girl, is it?" Akane asked.  
  
"No... I mean, I certainly don't want to be a guy. That might make me a little stronger, but... Guys can act so stupid sometimes." Akama said. "Some girls act pretty stupid too, usually when they're talking about guys though, so they're the problem again, heh." Akama added.  
  
"I see." Akane said.  
  
"I just don't see why everyone expects me to be like all those other girls." Akama said.  
  
"Everyone doesn't, Akama. People are all different, just because you're athletic and you're not into the same things..." Akane said, stopping as Akama interrupted.  
  
"I know, I know, Dad said the same thing. Just because of how I am doesn't make me not a girl, right?" Akama asked. Her mother tried to say something, but Akama interrupted again. "And I'm just as good of a girl as any other girl my age, right?"  
  
"Well, something like that, dear." Akane said. "You are a beautiful, talented, strong, graceful girl. Your father is still one of the most skilled martial artists in the world, and you're very close to being able to beat him. Anyone that takes one look at you could tell you were a girl. You're not going to be expected to be like every other girl in the world, Akama."  
  
"I like... being a girl, mom. I think about... being a mom myself sometimes, and I want to be married someday too. I like practicing with dad, and studying the art. I like how I look in a dress, and girly clothes, but I like wearing the clothes that make me feel comfortable too. But I hear all this stuff saying that girls have to act a certain way, and wear certain things, and... Well, I'm just not like that." Akama said.  
  
"Then don't be like that, Akama. You're a unique person. Your father and I have always been behind you, and we'll always love you, no matter what you wear, or do." Akane said.  
  
"You.. So you really don't mind if I'm not like Aunt Kasumi or something? You always get so excited when you see me acting more like she does, all girly and delicate." Akama said.  
  
"I get excited because I was a girl your age once too, you know. I dreamed of being a mother someday, and since it happened, I've been so happy. I can't help getting a little excited when I see my own daughter looking so nice. We were overjoyed when we found out we were going to have twins, Akama." Akane said. "We have always loved both of you, before you were even born."  
  
"You really embarrass me sometimes though, mom. Why do you make it such a big deal when I put on a dress?" Akama asked.  
  
Akane looked down, and sighed. "...I never had a mother to do that for me, Akama."   
  
"Y-you... Didn't? I knew that Grandma died when you were a kid, how young were you, mom?" Akama asked, blinking.  
  
"She was so sick, for so long... I don't know exactly how old I was when she died. I can hardly remember times when she *wasn't* sick. I knew she loved me, Akama. We just never got to do many of the things that mothers look forward to sharing with their daughters." Akane said. "She wouldn't have even had the energy to get excited."  
  
"Oh, mom... I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't know you were just a little girl when grandma died. I thought you were older." Akama said.  
  
"Well, now you know." Akane said.  
  
"Yeah... Mom, I'm sorry." Akama moved to hug her mother tightly, letting a few tears slide down her cheek. "I never realized about grandma... If something happened, I would miss you so much."  
  
"Even when I embarrass you?" Akane asked, feeling a few teardrops hit her shoulder, and dampen her shirt.  
  
"Even then, Mom. I still feel like I'd rather wear this than some frilly dress, though. It's just not me." Akama said.  
  
"I know, dear. I know. You have to be comfortable with yourself, to be happy." Akane said, pulling her daughter closer. A glance to the bathroom mirror showed two dark haired girls with many similarities in their looks. It was apparent in times like this, when the two could be seen side by side, that Akane noticed the most how much her daughter resembled her. Akane brought her hand up and swept through her daughter's reddish-tinted black hair slowly. "I love you, Akama. No matter what. Always remember that." Akane said.  
  
"I... um... Love you too, Mom." Akama said. "If you ever run into that little girl again... You can tell her she grows up to be a great mother, ok?"  
  
"It's a deal." Akane said, continuing her soft motions through her daughter's hair. The soft pink tint that flooded Akama's cheeks was an unspoken signal between mother and child, the two girls had shared something special today.  
  
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ranma had fastened a white apron around herself, and she was eagerly helping her Aunt with the lunch preparations. "So what do you want me to do next, Aunt Kasumi?" Ranma asked, smiling. The red-haired girl's eyes were wide and sparkling, as she listened intently to every one of her Aunt's instructions.  
  
Kasumi handed ingredients to Ranma, one at a time, before speaking up again. "You're a natural chef, Ranma. You're doing great!" Kasumi said.  
  
"Thanks, Aunt Kasumi!" Ranma said, smile widening before she accidentally poured too much of the salt into the soup they were making. Ranma blushed brightly, but a few seconds later, she giggled and smiled. "Oops." Ranma said, still giggling.  
  
Grinning, Kasumi patted Ranma's back comfortingly. "It's ok, Ranma. Just a little mistake. I've had a lot of practice with food accidents. Your mom *is* my sister." Kasumi said, starting to giggle along with her niece.   
  
Akama and her mother came back into the kitchen shortly after, and they overheard the two laughing. "What's so funny, Sis?" Akama asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing, Aunt Kasumi's trying to teach me some things about cooking..." Ranma said, grinning at Kasumi.  
  
"Ranma is an excellent student." Kasumi said, grinning back to her niece.  
  
"I have a feeling you two were doing more than cooking." Akane said, smiling at the way her daughter and sister seemed to be becoming friends. "Are you having a good time with your Aunt, Ranma?"  
  
"Yeah, I am." Ranma said, stirring the soup slowly. "She's got a lot to teach me about cooking, it's complicated. All those measurements and different terms... It's fun though, when you've got a good instructor." Ranma said.  
  
"Aunt Kasumi?" Akama asked.  
  
"Yes, Akama?" Kasumi answered.  
  
"Could I... Watch you two for a bit?" Akama said, folding her hands in front of herself.  
  
"Why, Of course, Akama, you're welcome to stand around with the cooks in here for as long as you like." Kasumi said.  
  
Akama walked into the kitchen, and slowly pulled on another white apron, fussing a bit at the frills around the edges. "Oh brother, this is a little much." Akama said.  
  
Akane smiled, and stood still, taking in the scene for a little. It really was nice, having three of the most important people in her life standing together in the kitchen. She walked over and hugged her daughters lightly. "Listen to your Aunt, girls. I'm going to go see what your father is up to." Akane said.  
  
"Alright, Mom." Ranma said.  
  
"Yeah, ok." Akama said.  
  
Akane smiled, and walked out of the back door, heading out to where she would be sure to find her husband. Akane slid the doors of the dojo open slowly, and Ranma turned. "Guess I never really did manage to be able to hide myself from you, Ranma. Not that I've wanted to for a while, though." Akane said.  
  
"That's good to hear, Akane." Ranma said. "You might want to now though, I'm a bit smelly."  
  
"That's alright, You are normally." Akane said, grinning as she teased her husband.  
  
"Oh, really?" Ranma said, smiling a bit as he took deep breaths.  
  
"Yeah. Really." Akane said, blushing a light shade at her husband's smile. She felt the warmth on the face, and thought, 'You can still make me blush, Ranma. Even after all these years.'  
  
"Are the girls back yet?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yes, they're back." Akane said. "Kasumi came over too, you might want to poke your head out into reality some time and say hi. Her son came with her."  
  
"I'll be in there in a little, Akane." Ranma said.  
  
"There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, Ranma." Akane said  
  
"Oh, What was that, Akane?" Ranma asked.  
  
"I didn't *quite* make it as long as you suggested." Akane said.  
  
"So you talked with Akama? How'd it go?" Ranma asked.  
  
"It went... well, I suppose. She told me that she was feeling like she was weak, and failing you as an heir, by not being how everyone expects a girl to act. I think she's starting to mature a little, and notice that her body is... Changing in ways that won't let her forget that she doesn't act how people generally think is feminine. She did tell me that she had a good time with her sister, though, I'm so glad that they get along, Ranma. It makes me happy to see our children happy." Akane said. She purposefully withheld the small part about talking about losing her mother. She truly felt that it was something special, between a mother and daughter only. She didn't have a habit of lying to her husband, or leaving out parts of the truth, but this time she felt it necessary.  
  
"Our daughter's not a little girl anymore, Akane... We have to deal with the fact that she's becoming a woman as much as she does. Did she say how she felt about her attire on the little trip?" Ranma asked.  
  
"She said... You know, she said that she liked how the dress felt, and that she liked that she was a girl. She said that she was more comfortable wearing pants and shirts, things like that, though. I completely understood." Akane said.  
  
"Yeah... dressing femininely can be a bit uncomfortable at times. Akama hasn't even had pantyhose on yet, either, I can't wait to hear what she has to say about that." Ranma said.  
  
"My husband, the women's apparel specialist..." Akane said, grinning.  
  
"Of course I am, dear. I'm Ranma Saotome. Specialist in everything." Ranma said, grinning right back.  
  
"Sure, Ranma..." Akane said, chuckling. "Anyway, I tried to make sure she knew that we were behind her in whatever she chose to do. We have to do that, even if, however unlikely, she decides that she wants to act more like she thinks a young woman should act... and less like the little girl who wanted to be just like daddy."  
  
"Akane, I'm not my father." Ranma said. "I won't put pressure on either of our children for the sake of my father's notions of 'carrying on the family line', or things like that. I love my children, no matter what."  
  
"Just remember that, Ranma. Things can change very quickly." Akane said.  
  
"I know." Ranma said.  
  
Akane felt a light tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see her daughter holding the phone for her, with a hand over it, so the person on the other end couldn't hear. "Mom, it's for you. Someone from the school," Said the younger Ranma.  
  
"Hello?" Akane said.  
  
"Hello, Mrs. Saotome?" The voice on the other end said.  
  
"Yes?" Akane said.  
  
"I just wanted to let you know that your daughter will be expected to show up at swim practice tomorrow morning, an hour before school starts. Make sure she gets there, or she'll not be allowed to be on the team." The grumpy sounding woman said.  
  
"Alright, Thank you for calling. I'll make sure she's there." Akane said.  
  
"Who was that, Mom?" Ranma asked.  
  
"I guess it must have been the swimming coach. You have practice tomorrow morning." Akane said.  
  
"Hey, great!" Ranma said, enthusiastically. "Umm... Oh yeah! Aunt Kasumi said that lunch was ready, too. The phone rang when I was coming out here to tell you."  
  
"Alright, Ranma. We'll be in soon." Akane said. She watched her daughter slip back out, and into the house, before turning back to face her husband again. "Are you as worried about this as I am?" Akane asked.  
  
Ranma Sr. responded slowly, sighing. "It will be alright, Akane. Our daughter can handle herself well enough. If she's decided she would like to be on the swimming team, she's obviously thought about what that's going to entail."  
  
"I just hope she knows what she's getting into, Ranma. Those other girls on that team won't very much like having... someone with our daughter's unique problems around them.' Akane said.  
  
"She can handle herself, Akane..." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I certainly hope so, Ranma. I certainly hope so." Akane said. 


	7. Chapter 7

Children: Chapter 7  
  
"Wake up, Ranma... Wake up..." A voice said.  
  
Ranma heard this, and her eyes began to flutter open slowly. Standing over her bed, was her mother. Akane was nudging her daughter's side gently, as she called. Finally, Ranma turned over and yawned, answering her mother. "Alright, Alright, I'm up..."  
  
"That's good. You need to hurry and get dressed, you have swimming practice this morning, remember?" Akane said.  
  
Ranma sighed and flopped back over in bed. Of course she remembered, but it was still very early in the morning. Were her father and Akama even awake yet? "Too early." Ranma mumbled.  
  
Akane pulled the sheets and blankets swiftly off of Ranma's bed, leaving a very shocked and startled girl in the bed. "Get up, dear. You have somewhere to be." Akane said.  
  
"Aah! Mom! What'd you do that for!?" Ranma shrieked. It was *very* chilly wearing only her cute red pajamas. Ranma jumped out of bed and went to her closet, pulling out a robe to wrap herself in. Once the robe had been secured around herself, Ranma took her backpack from another place in the closet, packing several things into it for the day, placing her water-drop printed swimsuit on top. 'At least Taiiku is going to be there.' Ranma thought. She smiled softly, and moved to the bathroom, where she shed her robe, pajamas, and undergarments, stepping into the shower. Twenty minutes later, Ranma hopped out, wrapping herself in a large towel. She hurriedly went back into her room, after grabbing up her pajamas. Another twenty minutes would pass before a slightly drowsy redhead emerged, dressed in the traditional school uniform.  
  
"You're up early..." Akama said, passing her sister in the hallway.  
  
"Yeah." Ranma said, yawning, "Swimming practice."  
  
"Oh. Well, have fun. Don't let those snotty swimmers bug you either, Ranma. You have as much right to swim as they do. If that doesn't change their minds, just tell them I'm going to beat them up or something." Akama smirked, half joking, prompting a small smile from Ranma.  
  
"Thanks, Sis. Heh.. I'll be sure to tell them." Ranma said. She walked into the kitchen, where her dad was busy cooking breakfast. Ranma tried to sneak over behind her father, and even though Ranma Sr. knew she was there the whole time, he acted surprised when two slender arms wrapped around his waist in a loving greeting.  
  
"Oh! Good morning, Ranma. I didn't notice you there." Ranma Sr. said, turning around to hug his daughter in return. A small smirk hung on his face however, and Ranma giggled.  
  
"You knew I was here before I did, Dad. Thanks for pretending though." Ranma said.  
  
"Any time, dear." Ranma Sr. said, ruffling his daughter's hair just slightly. "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready." He said.  
  
"Alright, Dad." Ranma said, sitting down.  
  
Meanwhile, Akama was busy in her room, getting changed into her training outfit. She'd thrown away the uncomfortable, tight bandages that she used to wrap around her chest, ever since the day she'd had her weird dream. She found it even more uncomfortable to wear nothing on her chest, so under the training outfit, she'd began to wear a sports bra, on her mother's recommendation. "Stupid thing doesn't help much with getting the guys to stop staring at me... At least it's better than nothing." Akama said. As she walked into the kitchen, Ranma was just finishing her breakfast.  
  
"See you later, Sis!" Ranma said, as she grabbed her backpack, and rushed out the door. Ranma didn't hear her sister's reply, as she was in far too much of a hurry. Ranma rushed to school, eager to be early and make a good impression on the coach. As she approached the school's gates, a familiar voice called out to her.  
  
"Hey, Ranma!" Taiiku said, smiling brightly. "Good morning!"  
  
"Morning.. Taiiku... How are ya?" Ranma said.  
  
"I'm pretty good.. A bit sleepy though. Let's go on in and get changed before everyone gets here, we'll have a little time to... um.. talk." Taiiku said, taking Ranma's hand.  
  
"Yeah, let's." Ranma said, smiling a bit as well. She couldn't help but blush just a little when Taiiku took her hand, 'Feels nice to hold her hand.' Ranma thought. Then, the possible interpretation of this came to her mind. "Taiiku, um.. I don't think we should hold hands like this, people are going to start saying stuff about... well.. i just don't want you to start getting that too, just because of me."  
  
"Ranma, They can talk all they want. I want to hold your hand." Taiiku smiled a bit brighter, and gently squeezed the delicate hand in her grasp.  
  
"Ok, Taiiku." Ranma said. Her other hand went behind her head, scratching at her neck nervously. "It's just... I mean... well... I'm a girl right now. It... it's gonna look bad."  
  
"It's gonna look bad for me to have a friend?" Taiiku said, smirking.   
  
"No, I guess not... Heh.. Let's go in, huh?" Ranma replied. The two of them walked into the school, and made their way to the pool area. The coach was still in her office, they assumed, as she wasn't anywhere around the deck of the pool. Ranma and Taiiku continued into the locker room, where the next problem came up. Changing clothes.  
  
As Taiiku started to unbutton the shirt to her uniform, she looked over to the motionless form of the other girl present, and said, "Ranma, you can't swim in that, silly."  
  
"Well... um.. I know. It's just.." Ranma sighed heavily, starting to unbutton her shirt too. "I'm gonna have to get used to changing in front of people. You know they're all going to stare at me, right? Half of them think I'm lying about my curse, the other half think... I don't know, that I'm some sort of pervert, I suppose."  
  
"I'm the only one here right now, Ranma. We can always keep coming early together, if you want to. That'd make you a little more comfortable, right?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"A little... There's still you, though." Ranma said.  
  
"Ranma, you don't have to be embarrassed about me. I'm going to be too busy changing myself, to worry about you." Taiiku said. "Now turn around and get changed, ok?"  
  
"Sure..." Ranma said, turning around. She undressed and changed into her swimsuit, worrying the whole time about actually undressing in front, or behind, as it were, of another person.  
  
Taiiku changed into her swimsuit as well, still smiling. Ranma was so adorable, Taiiku thought. Ranma's shyness was very sweet, but her embarrassment around other people would have to come down a bit, for her to be on an athletic team. Taiiku turned toward the door as the other girls on the team began to stream into the room. The second they saw Ranma standing there, they all stopped exactly where they stood.  
  
One girl stepped out, apparently the leader of the group. She said, "What is *she* doing here? She's not even a real girl. I'm going to talk to the coach about this." Turning to the other girls, her back to Ranma, the leader continued, "Don't worry, girls. This freak will be gone by tomorrow."  
  
"Shut up, Umi." Taiiku said. "Ranma is not a freak, and if she's not a girl, why would she be on the *girl's* swimming team?"  
  
"I..I don't want to cause problems..." Ranma said, shrinking back as she usually did in the face of torment. 'Why'd I ever do this, I knew it would be a huge mess.' Ranma thought.  
  
"You sure screwed that up, you freak." Umi said. "Can't you even be quiet correctly?" All the girls behind their leader, started giggling hysterically.  
  
Taiiku sighed heavily, walking over to comfort Ranma. Taiiku put her arms around the red-haired girl who seemed to have retreated into her shell. Taiiku whispered into Ranma's ear. "Ranma.. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."  
  
Ranma blushed bright red as Taiiku comforted her. Feelings of despair and sadness mingled with awkward contentment at such a loving embrace. A new feeling began to well up, however, when the focus of the teasing became Taiiku. "Hey, Taiiku, What're you doing hugging her like that? I mean, there's nice, and then there's... 'nice'," Umi said. The girls behind her obviously caught what Umi had meant to imply, and burst into another round of laughter.  
  
"Be.. Be quiet." Ranma said, stuttering slightly. Unfortunately, that brought an imitative taunt from the slender bully.   
  
"S..s..sorry, f...f..freak." Umi said, forcing a stutter to further add insult.  
  
"I don't care if you make fun of me... But leave Taiiku out of it." Ranma said.  
  
  
  
"Ranma, you don't have to..." Taiiku began, before being cut off by the rude swimmer's continued taunts.  
  
"Maybe I was right." Umi said, "The freak has a crush on you, Taiiku. You know that, right? What're you going to do about it?"  
  
Taiiku simply smiled to the crowd of swimmers, as the coach burst in through the doors, angry as usual. "What are you ladies doing? Get dressed and get out there! We have a lot of work to do!" The coach said. After the girls dressed, they filed out through the door. However, the coach put a hand on Ranma's shoulder, and held her back. "Saotome. Just what is your situation? You seem to be registered at school as a male AND a female. Surely this is some administrative error, or computer glitch or something. You look like a girl to me." Coach said.  
  
"I...I'm sorry, Coach. You see... i.. i.." Ranma's face flushed several shades of red as she began to try to explain her complicated life. The coach's harsh exterior was eventually wore away by the stories of Ranma's childhood and adolescence with the curse.   
  
"I don't know much I can do to help ya, Saotome. I'll say something to the girls today." Coach said.  
  
Ranma smiled faintly, speaking up. "Thanks." She was unaware, however, that this small amount of instruction would not protect her in any way, in fact making the taunting worse. The coach and her went from the locker room, Ranma found her way beside Taiiku, and the coach stood in front of the assembled girls.  
  
"Listen up, ladies! We've got a new girl today, Ranma Saotome. I've heard you talking about her, and I don't like it. We will *not* have disunity on this team. Do you understand?" Coach said.  
  
The group sounded its agreement, although Umi shot an intensely hateful glare back at Ranma, as she sat by Taiiku. Ranma, thankfully, didn't see it, leaving Taiiku to notice the continued animosity. Taiiku sighed somewhat, as she whispered again into Ranma's ear. "I don't think that helped any, Ranma. I'm certain that some, if not most, of the girls don't believe what Umi says. They're just afraid of being unpopular."  
  
"I'll deal with it, Taiiku." Ranma said. "I just don't want you to..."  
  
"Shh, Ranma. I know what you're going to say." Taiiku interrupted. "No, I don't.. Like girls like that. I'm not going to react when she says something like that though."  
  
"I understand." Ranma said. The rest of practice continued without incident, the girls swam quite a few laps in the pool, and also practiced a bit on diving technique. Once the coach told them all that the practice was over, they returned to the locker room. Ranma shyly changed her clothes back, utterly terrified of the other girls seeing her in her undressed state, as much as that might do to put to rest any suspicions that she was not really a female. Having changed back into her school uniform, Ranma went out of the locker room, and started out of the pool area.   
  
Taiiku was not far behind, and as she approached Ranma, she looked as if she had something to say. "Ranma.. Ranma, wait up, please!" Taiiku called.  
  
Ranma slowed down considerably, letting Taiiku catch her. As the two came side by side, a bright blush could be easily seen on Ranma's face. "I... they all saw me..." Ranma said.  
  
"No one was looking at you, Ranma. I promise." Taiiku said, smiling brightly.   
  
"Taiiku, I'm sorry to run off like this, but I really would feel more comfortable as a guy right now. Will I see you at lunch?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Sure, Ranma. It's ok. I'll see you at lunch." Taiiku answered, smiling. Her smile was mostly fake, but she did a good job hiding it. 'Ranma, I'm sorry I can't do more...' Taiiku thought.  
  
Ranma quickly ran off to the janitor's room, where he was allowed to store a spare uniform. After locking the door, Ranma undressed and filled a small dish with water from the janitor's faucet. The water was from a pipe that connected to the boiler, so it was still pretty hot once it reached that faucet. Ranma splashed the small amount of water on herself, and suppressed the exclamation that wanted to come forth when the water hit. Finding that she had become 'he' again, Ranma changed into his spare male uniform and continued to class. Unfortunately, Ranma bumped into a certain antagonistic swimmer as he exited.  
  
"Watch it!" Umi screeched, before realizing who it was that had bumped into him. "Freak... You really must be like they say, You look nothing like a girl now." She said.  
  
"It's not my fault... I was born this way.." Ranma said, shyly looking down.  
  
"Wait a second.. You're a guy now, but there's no way you weren't a girl then... We all got undressed around you because there was *no way* you weren't. You pervert! You used your freakishness to stare at all of us!" Umi accused.  
  
"No, I didn't... I never looked at anyone..." Ranma said. He internally cursed himself for not standing up for himself more, but the years of torment taught him to just retreat into the shell and wait for the insults to be done.  
  
"I don't believe you." Umi said, slapping Ranma full across the face, "Pervert. Don't let me catch you at out practice again, or I'll do more than slap you."  
  
Ranma stayed silent, not letting the tears come, however desperately they wanted to. He also carefully kept his hand from touching his stinging cheek, as he knew that'd only make it feel worse. Putting his backpack onto his shoulders, he continued down the hall, muttering to himself. "I'm such an idiot..." He said.  
  
"Hey! Don't mumble, pervert! I'm serious, I'm going to kick your ass if I see you there tomorrow!" Umi shouted, as Ranma walked away to his class.  
  
As Ranma walked into class, early as usual, the teacher saw the bright red mark on Ranma's cheek. "Ranma, What happened?" The teacher asked.  
  
"Nothing. I just got slapped by a girl, it's nothing." Ranma said. He took his seat and the day progressed on slowly, until finally it was time to eat lunch. Carefully, Ranma retrieved his lunch and made his way out to his usual spot underneath the lonely tree. He looked down when he spotted the group of swimmers, save Taiiku, glaring at him. There was no doubt in Ranma's mind that Umi had told them all that he was a pervert, and gotten them firmly into disliking the 'freak' again.   
  
Soon enough, Taiiku would join Ranma under the tree. She sat down, crossing her legs and tugging at her skirt, before opening her lunch. "Hey, Ranma." Taiiku said, smiling over to him warmly.  
  
"Hey..." Ranma responded, flatly, leaning back against the tree. His lunch sat to the side, unopened, and if that weren't enough to get Taiiku worried, there was still the lingering redness that seemed to form a hand print.  
  
Taiiku blinked a few times, looking at Ranma's sadder than usual expression. She had a nagging feeling that something more had happened after Ranma had walked off to change. "Ranma... What's wrong?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"Nothing, alright... Just.. Nothing." Ranma's hand came up towards his face. He was going to rub his cheek, but that would have betrayed his claim that nothing was wrong, so he put his hand back down.  
  
"Sure doesn't look like nothing, Ranma. Your cheek is bright red." Taiiku said.  
  
"A girl slapped me. Nothing unusual for my life." Ranma said.  
  
Taiiku frowned. Not only did they have to make fun of him, now they were even hitting him. She knew the weight that popularity held at this age, having been both outcast from, and included in, the social circle. "Was it..." Taiiku asked, unable to finish her question due to Ranma's acknowledging nod.  
  
"Yeah. Listen, Taiiku... The only reason I even wanted to be on the swim team was to spend time with you. I don't want to make more problems, ok? I'm gonna just quit... I'm not going to be the cause of you getting the same treatment I do." Ranma said.  
  
"You're right. That..." Taiiku restrained herself from saying something very rude about Umi, before continuing, "...And her bunch of followers are."  
  
"Taiiku..." Ranma started to call up the strength to argue against her, but given his current depression, it just wasn't there. Instead, he let out a rather pronounced sigh, and hung his head.  
  
"You have as much right to be there as anyone else, Ranma." Taiiku said.  
  
"And they have every right not to want a... Freak like me there." Ranma spat out the last few words in his sentance, anger beginning to build up in him. As usual, the anger would only be compressed and packed away, never dealt with.  
  
"So what are you saying, Ranma? You're going to just let them win?" Taiiku asked.  
  
"I wanted to be there to get closer to you, Taiiku. We're going out on a date tonight, i'd say my mission was a success. I don't need to stick around and get made fun of too... What am i doing swimming anyways.. It's not like i'm really a girl.." Ranma said all of this, carefully avoiding looking directly at Taiiku.  
  
Taiiku sighed, scooting a little closer next to Ranma's side. "Ranma, I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you are. You can't just let them run you off. You can't let them have that much control over your life." Taiiku said.  
  
Ranma laughed shortly, before speaking again. "Why not? I don't even have control of what gender I am...."  
  
"Ranma..." Taiiku said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I know it must be really hard for you, but I can tell you one thing for sure. You're a nice person. Guy or girl, i'm still your friend." The bell started to ring, ending the lunch period. Taiiku placed a light kiss on Ranma's red cheek, and got up. "See you tonight, Ranma. I'm looking forward to it." Taiiku said.  
  
"M..Me too.." Ranma mumbled, blushing an adorable shade of pink. He felt this heat on his cheeks, and his hands shot up to cover them. Unfortunately, his slapped cheek was still raw, and it stung a bit as he touched it. "Smooth, Ranma." He said, walking back into the school building to finish off the rest of the day.  
  
The rest of the day went as smoothly as could be expected, Ranma recieved what he'd grown to accept as common teasing from the students in the halls, but nothing else happened. He'd been slightly distracted from his thoughts in class, by that little kiss Taiiku gave him, though. Ranma soon remembered that it wasn't the first time Taiiku had kissed his cheek, and upon remembering, he felt a familiar warmth begin to slip over his cheeks. Luckily, the bell rang just as he was about to hide his head in his books. Ranma gathered his things and hurried out the door to meet up with Akama and walk home, as he usually did. Upon meeting her brother in the hall, Akama smiled. "Hey, Ranma. What's up?" Akama asked.  
  
"Heh.. Nothing, Sis. Wow, You look nice today..." Ranma blinked a few times, looking over his sister. Ranma had been long gone before Akama was awake, so naturally he hadn't had a chance to see her. What he did see was quite a shock. Akama was apparently following more in the de-tomboyizing trend she had been set on, and as such, she was not only dressed properly in the female uniform, but Ranma also could make out a silver necklace around her neck, and silver clip-on earrings in her ears.  
  
"Heh... Thanks, Ranma. I didn't overdo it, did i? I mean... So I know i'm a girl and everything. I should act like it, I suppose... And the uniform is just something that has to be done. The necklace though, and the earrings.." Akama stopped herself halfway through, noticing the smirk widening on her brother's face. "Alright, Ranma, what's that goofy smirk for, huh?" Akama said, traces of annoyance registering on her face.  
  
Ranma's smirk slowly turned to a smile, as he wrapped his arms around Akama's waist gently. He hugged her tightly, smiling the whole while, before commenting as he let her go. "Hey, i've always said the Saotome girls were heartbreakers. I'm just glad there's more than one of us now." Ranma said.  
  
"Oh, be quiet." Akama said, whapping him lightly with her book bag. Ranma turned around, and started walking towards the doors of the school. Akama sighed relievedly at this, because she felt a very uncomfortable warmth building up on her cheeks. Yup, she was blushing. "I'm glad there's more than one of us too, Ranma." She said, walking a bit faster to catch up with her brother. Once she got there, she put her arm around his shoulder. "Thanks." Akama said.  
  
"No problem, Sis. And don't worry, if you start acting like one of those airheads, I'll make dad teach me how to kick your butt." Ranma answered, smirking.  
  
Akama laughed, and added, "If I start acting like that, I might just have to let you." The two siblings walked home, and remarkably, Ranma would arrive home the same gender that he left school as.   
  
"Weird..." Akama said, as they passed the water tossing old lady's house, with not a drop being poured out the window.  
  
"Yeah, that's almost scary." Ranma agreed. They walked for a short distance more, rounding the last corner before the street their house was on. As they drew closer to their house, Ranma tripped. This wouldn't have been important, except the thing he tripped on, had squealed when he did.  
  
"Look, Ranma. You tripped over a piglet." Akama said.  
  
"Weird..." Ranma said, picking up the piglet by its tiger-striped collar. "No name tag, but it has to be someone's pet, you don't see too many pigs wearing collars in the wild... And you don't see many pigs around here, period."  
  
"I think it's sort of cute, Ranma. We have to atleast take it home to see if it's hurt from you tripping over it." Akama said.  
  
"Yeah, you're right, Sis. We can't just leave it here." Ranma agreed. The two of them walked the remaining distance back home, and upon opening the front door, the piglet squealed loudly and jumped out of Ranma's arms. It ran out the door as fast as either of them had ever seen a piglet run, although, oddly, it was back at their doorstep moments later.  
  
"Guess it realized we could feed it, Huh? Now we know it's a pet." Akama said. She took the piglet up in her arms, and went into the kitchen. She held the piglet in one arm, while she opened the refrigerator with her free hand. "Hey, what're you supposed to feed a piglet, anyways?" Akama asked.  
  
Ranma walked into the kitchen and blinked. How was he supposed to know what to feed a pig? Thinking for a second, he came up with what he thought was a reasonable idea. "Give it a bowl of milk or something, I don't know. What do I look like, a zoo keeper?" He said.  
  
Akama was in the middle of filling a small dish with milk, when Akane came in, and saw what they were doing. "Ryouga? How in the world did you get here?" Akane asked.  
  
Both Ranma and Akama blinked simultaneously, and exclaimed, "Ryouga?!"  
  
"Yes.. One of your father's friends. He's a Jusenkyo victim too, sadly. Spring of drowned black piglet, as you can see. The bandana is a dead giveaway." Akane explained, carefully leaving out the part about her not being able to tell for years, that her pet piglet was actually Ryouga.  
  
"Wait.. Dad's told me about Ryouga... He had a crush on you, didn't he, Mom?" Akama asked.  
  
"Yeah, he did, but we'll talk about that later. Ranma, go run some hot water for him, and get some of your father's clothes for him to wear." Akane said. "And don't let him run off, he could get lost in a cardboard box!" She shouted, as Ranma walked off, down the hall.  
  
Ranma had taken the little black piglet by the bandana as his mother instructed, and he carefully took it to the bathroom. As a convenience for his own curse, Ranma always had a thermos of hot water under the sink, so he set the piglet in the bathtub, and poured the hot water on it. Sure enough, in a few seconds, an adult man was sitting there, stark naked. "Ugh.. Glad i'm not naked when I change," Ranma said. He dashed into his father's room and grabbed a pair of black workout pants, some underwear, a t-shirt, and a towel. As he came back, he saw Ryouga looking himself over in a mirror.  
  
"Ahahaa... I'm a man again! aha.. ahahha.." Ryouga was laughing neurotically, like something had snapped in his brain. Ranma laid the clothes out on the sink, before introducing himself.   
  
"Hi, um.. Ryouga." Ranma said.  
  
Ryouga looked over, and replied flatly. "Oh, Hi Ranma. Boy, you sure have aged well, old man."  
  
"Aged well? Huh? I'm Ranma *junior*. My dad's name is Ranma as well.." Ranma said.  
  
"Ranma had children... Wow. Well, you could have fooled me, boy. You look just like your father. I actually made it back here.. And i'm a man again.." Ryouga said, before falling into neurotic laughter again.  
  
"Just how long has it been since you got changed last?" Ranma asked, as Ryouga dressed.  
  
"I lost track..." Ryouga answered. "I'm just glad I can say something other than 'bwee' for once."  
  
"Heh.. Well, My mom and sister are waiting for us back in the kitchen, if you're done getting dressed, let's go." Ranma said.  
  
"Sister? Oh, that other girl, i suppose.." Ryouga mumbled, as he was led back to the kitchen. A long discussion followed, when they were all re-united, about how Ryouga had been wandering around the world much as he usually did. He had found a cure of sorts for his directional 'curse', but it only affected his human form. One stray splash of water, and he was stuck as a pig again. He didn't exactly know how long it had been, but he did know that he was overjoyed to be back among friends... Could he still call them friends? They'd definitely had their problems in the past, the last time they'd seen each other was several years ago. Ryouga purposefully got lost about a week after he'd told Akane about his curse.  
  
"I can't believe you kept that from me!" Akane screamed, slapping the wet male face infront of her, "I let you sleep in my bed.. Watch me change!"  
  
Ryouga hung his head in shame. There was no excuse for his actions, but the least he could do was try to restore some of his honor. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.  
  
"Oh, this is way past a simple apology. Why don't you do like you always do and just GET LOST!" Akane screamed, running off to seek comfort in the first person she found. Come to think of it, that was one of the major turning points in the relationship between Akane and Ranma. He had found her first, and explained how he'd knocked Ryouga in the spring. Akane seemed to understand that it was only the right thing to do, when you were the cause of a problem, to not worsen it. Akane also began to realize the little hints that Ranma had continually dropped, despite his agreement. "Oh, Ranma..." Akane sighed, "Why was i so blind?"  
  
"You had a cute little pet pig. Girls are suckers for cute pets." Ranma smiled that broad, handsome smile of his, and it only got wider as the blush swept over Akane's face. This wasn't *the* event that had brought them to the realization of their feelings, but Akane was comforted greatly by the fact that even when things looked terrible, Ranma was still there. Comforting her. Holding her. Making her blush.  
  
"Heh... Cute pets, huh?" Akane laughed, trying to hide her blush, only to find herself laying against Ranma's rather muscular chest.  
  
"Yup. I'm just glad you're not a certain figure skater, or else you would have named him 'Pierre', or something like that." Ranma said.   
  
The days that followed that one were increasingly difficult for Ryouga. He kept trying to apologize and kept getting utterly rejected. The final day that he would stay there, he had atleast come to an understanding with Akane. She didn't hate him, that got out of her system after a few days. She didn't, however, feel like she could totally forgive him. Failing to achieve that last objective, Ryouga gathered up his pack. "Goodbye, Akane..." He said, walking depressedly out the door. That was the last time any of them had seen Ryouga.  
  
"Ryouga? Hello? Yo! P-chan!" A voice said.   
  
That voice belonged to a certain person, a very familiar person, Ryouga thought. He blinked a few times, snapping from his trip into his memory. "Akane?" Ryouga said.  
  
"Finally got you back, huh?" Akane said, smiling faintly.  
  
"Yeah.. I was just... Thinking." Ryouga said, smiling lightly as well. It had been so long since he had seen Akane, much less her smile, and she was actually being nice to him.  
  
"That really was an interesting story... About you wandering and all... I guess i should be glad that i just turn into a girl, huh?" Ranma said. He pondered the consequences of always getting lost, and always being chased after for food, deciding that he didn't think being female was nearly as hard.  
  
"You should." Ryouga said, smiling a little. It was good to know that Ranma and Akane had gotten together and worked things out. Ryouga always knew that it could very well turn out like this, and now that he looked back, he could see that it was a good thing. He only had one more issue to solve. "Could you two let me talk to your mother in private?" Ryouga asked.   
  
Ranma and Akama knew it wasn't a question, as much as a statement. They did appreciate the courtesy though, and eventually Ranma would answer. "Yeah, sure." He turned to Akama, and continued, "Hey, sis, want to come help me pick out something to wear tonight?"  
  
"Not really." Akama said, before catching a harsh glare from her mother, and walking off with her brother to his bedroom.  
  
Ryouga cleared his throat, and looked at Akane. He'd been waiting for so long to find the right words to apologize to her again, but nothing seemed to ever fit. Perhaps simplest was best. "Akane... I'm sorry." Ryouga said.  
  
"Ryouga..." Akane pulled out a chair and sat down. "Ryouga, you've apologized enough. I've had a lot of time to think over what you did to me. It was very dishonest of you to take advantage of me like that, but then i think over the nice things you could do when you weren't trying to get close to me. You were always right beside Ranma, ready to save me from anything..."  
  
"I never meant to hurt you... I just didn't know how to tell you." Ryouga said.  
  
"Idiot..." Akane said, starting to tear up a bit.  
  
"I am an idiot. You and Ranma were meant for each other before either of you were born. I had just hoped i could share a little of that, before you two realized it." Ryouga said.  
  
"You could have just told me, Ryouga. You could have just said it... I know i wasn't the most rational person when i was younger, but you could have told me." Akane said.  
  
Right about then, Ranma Sr. walked in soaking wet, "You'd think that all this water would have somewhere else to go than *on me*." She complained. Continuing to walk into the kitchen, Ranma saw a person that he was almost sure he'd never have seen again. "Ryouga? Wow..." Ranma said, taking a towel from her convieniently waterproof backpack. She dried herself off, then took a seat at the table.  
  
"Yeah, Hi... Akane and I were just talking." Ryouga said.  
  
"Yeah, apparently he got lost in his cursed form, and somehow ended up back here." Akane said.  
  
"Well, Ryouga, if Akane agrees, I'd love to have you stay here for a few days. It's been a long time since i've seen ya." Ranma said, smiling. "Heh.. I've got a lot of things to tell you too."  
  
Akane sighed. She still was upset at what had happened, but the past did have to be left in the past sometime. Ranma seemed so happy to see an old friend, too, how could Akane turn her husband down? "I suppose... It's ok if he stays." Akane said.  
  
"Great!" Ranma said, patting her old friend on the back. "Man, i've got some stories for you, Ryouga. Hey, you want to go have a little match?"  
  
"I was waiting for you to ask." Ryouga said, his fanged grin appearing for the first time in a long time.  
  
"Men..." Akane said, laughing. "Oh, don't mind me, i'll just take care of the children. Maybe cook dinner." A large grin spread across Akane's face as she said 'cook dinner'.  
  
"We'll only be out there for an hour or so, Akane. Don't worry about cooking anything." Ranma smiled and kissed Akane's cheek gently, before walking out to the dojo with Ryouga. 


	8. Chapter 8

Children: Chapter 8  
  
Ranma and his sister sat in his room, thinking. Ranma would occasionally speak up abruptly, asking if their parents were done talking, if they should go check, or if they should just wait. They also discussed what Ranma should wear to his date, and other things that they thought would help. Eventually, Akama got tired of waiting, and she left the room, storming out the door with an annoyed sigh. "That's it, I'm going to see what they're doing!" She said.  
  
"Wait!" Ranma yelled, as Akama went out the door.   
  
Despite her brother's protests, Akama kept going, back into the kitchen. She found only her mother sitting there at the table, obviously deep in thought. "Mom? Hey, mom?" Akama said, shaking her mom's shoulder lightly.  
  
Akane blinked a bit, then turned to face her daughter. "Oh, Akama, I'm sorry... I must have been daydreaming." Akane said, blushing slightly at being caught like this.  
  
Akama pulled out a chair, and sat down at the table. "Hey mom?" She asked, "So what was that all about? Where did Dad and his friend go?"  
  
"Well, Akama..." Akane started, "Ryouga was one of your father's friends, back when we were growing up. He also had... a little bit of a crush on me."  
  
Akama blinked, then smiled. "Oh, I think I understand now. But he always got lost, so he didn't see you a lot, right?"  
  
"No, that wasn't it, Akama." Akane said, sighing.  
  
Akama looked even more confused than before. Finally, she spoke up again. "So what happened, Mom?" Akama asked.  
  
Sighing again, Akane looked into her daughter's eyes thoughtfully. "Akama, he used his cursed form to get close to me. I thought nothing of sleeping with my pet pig. He kept it from me for years, and when he told me... Well, lets just say that was the only time he *wanted* to get lost." Akane said.  
  
"I can't believe that he could be that... that..." Akama was mumbling, boiling over with anger.  
  
"I was pretty angry too. It's been a long time, though... I may not be able to forgive him, but he's important to your father." Akane said.  
  
"Hey, speaking of Dad, where is he?" Akama asked.  
  
"Out in the back, with Ryouga... I just wish he wouldn't keep training so much in his female form. I have to admit it makes me a little jealous. Your father is a very beautiful woman." Akane laughed.  
  
Akama laughed as well, standing up and pushing her chair in. "Thanks, Mom." She said. Akama walked back to the bedroom and told her brother that he should go talk to their father about his date that evening. "You really should ask him what to do tonight, Ranma." Akama said.  
  
"Alright, I'll go talk to him." Ranma said, walking out towards the back yard.  
  
Out in the back, Ranma Sr. and Ryouga were sitting inside the dojo, resting after their intense-as-usual match. "You've gotten much better, Ryouga." Ranma said, still in his female form.  
  
"And you've turned into a girl." Ryouga teased, a smirk drawing across his face.  
  
"It was inevitable, you know. It's not like I changed completely, say, into a pig or something." Ranma teased right back, her lips drawing into a similar smirk. Just then, both of their heads turned, when Ranma slid the door open.  
  
"Hey, Dad... I need to talk to you about something." Ranma said. Ryouga took this as a hint to leave the two of them alone, so he walked out of the dojo, and back into the house.  
  
"Sure, Son, What do you need to talk to me about?" Ranma Sr. asked.  
  
"Well, I... Sort of have a date tonight, with Taiiku. I'm just wondering what I should do, what I should wear, things like that." Ranma answered.  
  
"Just dress nice, Ranma. Act like a gentleman. You know how to do that, Why'd you have to ask me?" Ranma Sr. responded.  
  
"It's just... This is a big deal, right? I'm going on a date tonight. I'm really nervous, what if something happens?" Ranma said.  
  
"Ranma, if something happens, it happens. I know you want it to be perfect, but hardly anything is ever perfect. Just have a good time, be a gentleman, and show her that Saotome charm. I know it'll go great." Ranma Sr. said, smiling.  
  
"Alright, Dad. Thanks for talking to me." Ranma smiled brightly.  
  
"Any time, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said. She laughed a bit, before catching the strong scent hanging in the air. Perhaps a bath would be useful. She walked out of the dojo, and into the house, and finally into the bathroom. A broad smile crossed Ranma's face when he saw the clothes that Akane had been wearing, sitting on the hamper. "Akane? Are you in here, honey?" Ranma called out.  
  
"Come on in, Ranma... The water's nice and warm." Akane giggled, hearing the rustle of clothing being removed, and placed back on the hamper. Soon, Ranma's bare female form appeared in front of the tub where Akane was sitting. "Ryouga seemed to be worn out, so after he took a little bath himself, he went to lay down. It's great he's finally getting that directional sense of his under control." Akane said.  
  
"I'm not exactly thinking of Ryouga right now, Akane." Ranma smiled broadly as she slid into the water, changing back into himself. He put his arm around Akane's shoulder, holding her close. "One guess." He said, placing a delicate kiss on his wife's cheek.  
  
Akane's cheeks flushed red, as she felt the gentle kiss placed on one of them. Grinning slightly, she whispered, "If it's not me, then you're in trouble."  
  
Ranma laughed loudly, and kissed Akane again. He stared into her eyes, and saw all of the things that had come before, all their fights and troubles, all their victories as well. Now that Ryouga had come back, Ranma couldn't help but feel a little of the old days slipping back into the picture. He trusted Akane with his life, and his heart, but the part of him that was still stuck in the behaviors of the past, cried out. Ranma knew the only thing he could do to suppress these irrational fears, was to remember all that they'd been through. "Akane, I love you..." Ranma said, as he stroked through her hair.  
  
The blush in her cheeks only intensified, as she asked, "Ranma, What is this about?" Akane said.  
  
"Nothing... I just looked into your eyes and couldn't help myself." Ranma said.  
  
"Ranma, you are such a charmer." Akane giggled and kissed her husband on the lips.   
  
A knock came on the door, and a male voice yelled in, "Mom? Dad? You in there?"  
  
"Yes, Ranma. We are, but we're sort of busy." Akane yelled back.  
  
Ranma Sr. nudged his wife, and whispered to her, "Ranma has a date tonight, I think he might need to use the bathroom. We can finish this when he leaves, hmm?" Another light kiss was placed on Akane's cheeks, before they both got out and dried off, putting on two of the robes that hung in the bathroom closet.   
  
The door opened, and Ranma saw his parents holding onto each other, looking like they'd been having a rather nice time together. "Sorry to interrupt... I really have to get ready though." Ranma said. He slipped past his parents, and closed the door behind himself.  
  
"We do need to go get dressed ourselves, Ranma." Akane said.  
  
"Alright, let's go then." Ranma Sr. said. He had that look in his eyes that told Akane he was planning something more. They walked into their bedroom, and as soon as they reached the bed, Ranma playfully pushed Akane onto the bed.  
  
"Ranmaaaaaa!" Akane shrieked. As Ranma stood there laughing, Akane reached up and pulled him down on top of her. She kissed her husband square on the lips, and laughed some herself. "You sure got in a romantic mood all of a sudden, Ranma... It's not because Ryouga showed up today, is it?" Akane asked.  
  
"Well... Maybe seeing someone who could have very easily, under different circumstances, been right here in my place made me appreciate you even more." Ranma said.  
  
Akane sat up, and kissed Ranma's cheek. "You know no one could ever replace you, Ranma. Don't worry so much."  
  
"I won't, Akane, I won't." Ranma said, as he tugged at the fuzzy belt on Akane's robe.  
  
"Oh... Ranma..." Akane said, blushing brightly. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her passionately. Their mood was broken when Akama knocked on the door.  
  
"Mom! Dad! I can't find that Ryouga guy anywhere!" Akama said.  
  
The two of them got up, and Akane re-tied her robe together, then they went to the door and opened it up. "Don't tell me, He got lost again?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Seems that way, Dad... I'm sorry; I know you were happy about having your friend around. Hey, I thought he said that he found a way to fix that..." Akama said.  
  
"Yeah, I did too, Akama. Thanks for telling us." Ranma said. Akama walked off, and Ranma and Akane went back into the bedroom.  
  
Akane spoke up, after sighing deeply. "I guess he must have gotten scared of... Something, and ran off. I'm so sorry, Ranma."  
  
"It's not your fault, Akane. Ryouga's a grown man. He can make his own decisions, and this time it seems he's decided to stay away from here." Ranma said. "Our son is still going on that date tonight, we need to worry about that instead of pig-boy."  
  
"Maybe," Akane sighed again, "You're right."  
  
Ranma Jr. had taken a moderately quick bath, although he made sure that he was clean, and smelled good, before he walked out of the bathroom and into his room. Scanning over his wardrobe, He pulled out the nicest outfit he could find. He pulled out a pair of black pants, similar to what his father wore, and a dark blue silk shirt. If certain things weren't a factor, like suddenly changing gender, Ranma would have dressed much nicer. Even including that, this was just a first date, so Ranma was fairly confident he looked nice enough. He checked over his appearance, after he'd slipped on the pants, and buttoned up the shirt, and smiled. "Hey, I think I look pretty nice.' Ranma said. He walked out of his room, and peeked into his parent's bedroom. "Mom, Dad?" He said.  
  
"Oh, Ranma... You look so nice." Akane said.  
  
"You look very handsome, Son." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Thanks..." Ranma said, rubbing the back of his neck while a soft red blush broke out over his cheeks. "Well, I'm going to go pick up Taiiku now, for our date. When do you want me to be home?"  
  
"Just whenever your date is over, dear. Try not to stay out too late though." Akane answered.  
  
"Remember, It's not the end of the world if some water would happen to hit you tonight, Ranma." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"I'll remember, Dad. Thanks again. Bye!" Ranma said. He walked out the front door, and went to the address that Taiiku had given him. Amazingly to him, Ranma arrived at Taiiku's house completely dry, and still male. This encouraged him for the success of the rest of the evening, so he extended his hand and pressed the doorbell with no hesitation, upon reaching the front door of Taiiku's house.  
  
"I'll get it!" Taiiku ran, or more appropriately, walked fast, to the door. It would have been hard for her to actually run, considering that she had put on a very nice purple floral printed dress that was a bit restricting for her legs, and shoes with a heel, that were a bit restricting for her feet. She opened the door and smiled widely. "Hi, Ranma. You look really handsome tonight."  
  
Ranma looked at Taiiku and blinked. She was beautiful. Gorgeous. An angel. Unfortunately, all that Ranma managed to squeak out when he spoke was, "Hi, Taiiku."  
  
Taiiku called back, "I'll be home after my date!" Then proceeded out the door, taking Ranma's hand. "I have a feeling this night is going to go great, Ranma." Taiiku said.  
  
The two of them walked along the sidewalks to the restaurant, talking about school and miscellaneous other things. A flower merchant called out to Ranma, offering his product.   
  
"A pretty flower for another of nature's beautiful creatures?" The merchant asked.  
  
Ranma looked over to see Taiiku blush, before he purchased the pinkish flower. Ranma handed it to Taiiku shyly, smiling. "You do look very pretty tonight, Taiiku." Ranma said.  
  
"Thank you, Ranma," Taiiku smiled, taking the flower and sniffing it. It had a wonderful sweet smell, and she held it in her hand gladly. "You're very sweet to buy me a flower, Ranma... Then again, you've always been sweet." Taiiku said. They then continued on to the restaurant, and had a very nice meal. Ranma pulled out Taiiku's chair for her, and for his effort, received a melodic giggle, and a slight tinge of color showing up on Taiiku's cheeks. The movie they saw was incredibly bad, even though all the big movie critics had praised it heavily. Halfway through the movie, Ranma and Taiiku were whispering little comments to each other and giggling hilariously. They received several annoyed shh-es, but they were enjoying themselves far too much to care. The movie finally ended, and the two of them walked outside, Ranma nearly avoiding a passing patron's thrown soda.  
  
The date seemed to pass far too fast for Ranma, as he was very much enjoying Taiiku's company away from school and other distractions. He got an idea, and asked Taiiku if she'd allow him to take her somewhere secret. Taiiku nodded, enjoying the date as much as Ranma, and not wanting it to end just yet either. "Close your eyes, ok?" Ranma said, taking hold of Taiiku's hand securely.  
  
"Where are we going?" Taiiku asked, gripping onto Ranma's hand, as they walked.  
  
"I told you, it's a secret. I promise you'll enjoy it though." Ranma said. He had found this place a number of years ago, when he'd first recognized the curse and what effects it would have on his later life, through schoolmates teasing. It was a huge field, filled with wildflowers, and not a drop of water, or other civilization, for as far as they could have both seen. As one would imagine, it took quite a while to reach such a remote location. When Ranma and Taiiku finally arrived, they were both somewhat tired.  
  
"We there yet, Ranma?" Taiiku asked, holding one hand over her eyes, her other hand holding tightly onto Ranma's.  
  
"Yeah, we are. Take a look." Ranma said, releasing Taiiku's hand, and sitting down.  
  
Taiiku opened her eyes, and gasped. "Oh, Ranma... This is beautiful. I've never seen so many flowers in one place before. They're everywhere..." She sat down beside him, and they both stared up into the star-filled sky.  
  
'So this is it, Ranma. Your big romantic moment.' Ranma thought. 'What're you going to do? You can't just sit there. Ask her...' Ranma cleared his throat, and spoke, rather shakily at first. "Taiiku, I was wondering if maybe, well, since we're on a date and all, and I really like you... Man, you're so beautiful... I was just wondering if maybe... I could kiss you."  
  
'This evening has been so nice... He bought me a beautiful flower, and dinner was really nice. That movie was terrible, but we had fun still... And here's the romantic part, Taiiku. Say yes! You like him, right? And you've already kissed *him* twice. It's only fair.' Taiiku thought. She looked over to Ranma, staring into his eyes. He had the most beautiful eyes, after all, who wouldn't want to look at them? 'You're getting off track, Taiiku.' She thought. Another few seconds passed in silence, before she answered. "Y...yeah, I'd like that, I mean, if you kissed me."  
  
Ranma's heart was screaming out to him, to kiss her overwhelmingly, and put all his emotion into it. His mind, however, only allowed him to place a delicate, brief kiss on her lips. Both of their eyes closed, as they leaned together, and their lips met. They stayed together for a moment, and when they both returned to sitting upright, they could see that he other's face was flushed fully with red. "That was... Nice." Ranma said, unable to come up with any other word.  
  
"Yeah, it was." Taiiku said. "W-would you... Do it again, Ranma?"  
  
Smiling, Ranma again pressed his lips to Taiiku's, communicating his feelings through the gentle kiss. As they broke apart again, Ranma turned his head upwards. "That was... Nice too." He said, staring into the star-filled heavens. Slowly, he lay down; the tall wild grasses and flowers almost hid him from view.  
  
"Yeah. It was." Taiiku lay down as well, staring up into the same sparkling ceiling.  
  
After several long moments of the two of them staring up into the sky, Ranma spoke up. "I think it's getting sort of late. Maybe we should head home."  
  
"Yeah," Taiiku replied. "School tomorrow, and everything." The two rose to their feet, and Ranma took Taiiku's hand again, leading her back home to her front door.   
  
As they stood on Taiiku's front steps, Ranma leaned in slowly, and kissed Taiiku's cheek once more. "I'll see you tomorrow, I suppose. At lunch, ok?" Ranma said.  
  
"Yeah... I'll see you at lunch. I'll be there." Taiiku said, bringing a hand up to the cheek that Ranma had kissed.   
  
Just as Ranma turned to leave, the sprinklers popped up and turned on. In the place of a handsome dark haired boy, a cute redheaded girl stood. "Thanks for waiting!" Ranma yelled, giggling cutely in that sweet female voice of hers. Ranma could hear Taiiku giggling loudly too, and when Ranma turned around, she smiled broadly. "Good night, Taiiku. Thanks for a wonderful evening." Ranma said.  
  
"Goodnight to you too, Ranma. I had a really nice time." Taiiku said, before slipping into her house.  
  
On the way home, I imagine it would have taken the force of many, many men to pry the smile off of Ranma's face. She was absolutely overjoyed about the way things had gone tonight, and the memories of those few kisses kept running through her mind. Everything about the night had been wonderful. Taiiku looked so beautiful, and that perfume she had on was absolutely intoxicating. The flower field had been a very romantic spot to end their evening, and Ranma guessed that they would be returning there on their next date. Finally, she came in through the front door of her own house, still somewhat cold, but no longer too wet, as the walk home had dried most of the water from her clothes. She made her way into the bathroom, after grabbing some cotton undies and a pair of light blue pajamas, she saw her sister's clothes sitting on the hamper, and tried to get out of the room, but she wasn't quite fast enough.  
  
"Alright, Ranma. You know you have to tell me how it went." Akama was in the bathtub, leaning back so that the water covered her up to her neck.  
  
Ranma undressed, wringing the remaining water out of the clothes, before putting them in the hamper, and changing into her pajamas. Setting herself on the sink, Ranma began to explain their night. "Well, on the way to dinner, I bought her a flower. She really seemed to like it. We went to dinner, and talked, I think we had a really good time. Then we went to the movies, you know, that new one everyone's talking about."  
  
"Yeah, how'd that go?" Akama asked.  
  
"Ugh, the movie was terrible, but we still had fun making comments about it and laughing. I think the other people got sort of upset at us though." Ranma said, grinning.  
  
"After that?" Akama asked.  
  
"Well... After that we went to this huge field. It was filled with wildflowers, and tall grass, and the stars were shining...." A bright red blush came over Ranma's face, as she trailed off.  
  
"Ooh, romantic. So, you kissed, didn't you?" Akama asked, smiling a bit.  
  
  
  
"Just... Twice." Ranma said, blushing brighter as she stared down, wiggling her feet nervously.  
  
"My brother, the charmer." Akama chuckled, as she got out of the bath and slipped on a robe, after drying off. "You know Mom and Dad are going to want to hear all about this, right?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ranma said, swinging her feet still. Her toes were pitifully bare, she thought. There would have to be something done about this... But could she still act feminine, now that she had a girlfriend? "Akama... What am I going to do? I just thought how my toenails look so blank, and that I should paint them, but I don't know if I'm going to have to give up that part of me, now that I'm going out with Taiiku." Ranma said.  
  
"I never noticed it bother her that you were a girl that whole time at the mall, Ranma. Why would it now?'' Akama answered. "Just because you two kissed, doesn't mean she hates your girl side now. She just likes your guy side more. And anyway, you're the same person... I think she sees just you."  
  
"Thanks, Sis. I know you're right.. i'm just nervous about the whole thing." Ranma said, as Akama went by her sister, back to her room.  
  
"I know you are. But you'll deal with it fine." Akama said, turning back. "It's one.. of the things i admire about you, sis."  
  
Ranma smiled. 


	9. Chapter 9

Children: Chapter 9  
  
Ranma's eyes drifted open slowly, as the rays of sunlight invaded her room. The realization that she was a girl at the moment slowly came to the front of her mind."Just great." Ranma sighed. Looking over at the clock, she noticed that it was just before the time she would have had to get up for swimming practice.  
  
"Ranma? Are you awake, dear?" Akane asked, peeking her head into her daughter's room.  
  
"Yeah, I'm awake. I'm not going to swimming though. I quit." Ranma said.  
  
Akane stepped into her daughter's room, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Ranma, you just started yesterday. What's wrong?" Akane asked.  
  
"Nothing, it's just that the whole swimming thing was to get closer to Taiiku. We're going out, so I can quit." Ranma answered.  
  
"Oh, I see... So nothing happened with the other girls, or anything like that?" Akane asked.  
  
"Nope. Nothing." Ranma immediately answered, very nearly cutting her mother off. It was painfully obvious that Ranma was lying, however, Akane decided not to pry too far into it.   
  
'Ranma's father might be better suited to handle it, anyways.' Akane thought.  
  
"Alright, dear." Akane said. "Might as well just get up and get ready. Which uniform would you like me to get out for you?"  
  
Ranma groaned, trying to bury herself back into her bed. "Skirt." Ranma said. She was very reluctant to get out from underneath the fluffy blankets, and getting up to heat water would definitely remove her from those blankets.  
  
"Alright, Ranma. Come on, now, get up." Akane said, going to her daugher's closet to retrieve the female version of the school's uniform. Akane pulled the hanger that held the blue and white outfit out of the closet, setting it on the bed.  
  
"Mmm... In a little." Ranma mumbled.  
  
Akane smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek. "I love you, Ranma. You need to get up now, not in a little, though." Akane said.  
  
Ranma turned over, flashing the patented Saotome smile to her mother. If this didn't work, she might actually have to get up. "Pleeeeeeeease?" Ranma begged.  
  
"Oh brother..." Akane said, laughing as she placed another kiss on her daughter's cheek. "I guess a few more minutes would be alright."  
  
Ranma smiled even brighter, and snuggled back under the covers, clinging to their fuzzy warmth. "Thanks Mom!" Ranma said, muffled by pillows and blankets.  
  
"You're welcome, Ranma." Akane said, walking out of her daughter's room. 'She really is her father's daughter...' Akane thought. As Akane walked by the window, she could see two shadows moving out in the back yard. "They're starting early today..." Akane said, to herself.  
  
"Come on, old man. You're getting slow!" Akama taunted, as she stood across from her father.  
  
"Oh, I'm getting slow..." Ranma Sr. said, grinning. He then rushed towards his daughter and swung his leg low, in an attempt to knock her off of her feet.  
  
Akama jumped slightly, so that her father's leg would pass under her, harmlessly. She landed, and giggled. "Yup. Slow." Akama said.   
  
Ranma smiled, and walked over to grab a towel. He threw one to his daughter, before wiping the sweat from his forehead. "You're getting a lot better, Akama. I'm proud of you." Ranma Sr. said.  
  
"Thanks, Dad." Akama said, wiping at her forehead. She sighed heavily, before looking back over at him again, saying, "Dad... I love you." She walked over and gave him an enthusiastic hug, cheeks tinted pink as she looked up.  
  
"I love you too, Akama. You did great today." Ranma smiled brighter, hugging his daughter closely. He did wonder what would bring up this sudden outburst, however.  
  
"Let's go get cleaned up, huh, dad?" Akama said, turning around. She looked back over her shoulder, and winked. "Unless you want to let me beat you up some more, Old man."  
  
"No, no," Ranma said, "I think you've got me worn out for this morning, Akama." He smiled again to his daughter, and walked into the house with her. Akama went off to the shower, but Ranma caught his wife in the kitchen.  
  
"Ranma, Dear, You smell." Akane said, grinning widely as she fixed the kids' lunches.  
  
"I know." Ranma said back, hugging his wife lightly.   
  
"Oh, Ranma..." Akane blushed, feeling light kisses being pressed to her neck and cheek. "Really, I have to fix these. Go get your *other* daughter out of bed, hmm?"  
  
"Shouldn't she be at swimming practice?" Ranma asked, blinking.  
  
"I think something happened with the other girls, Ranma..." Akane said. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, laying her head on his shoulder. "She said she didn't want to go. I just couldn't bring myself to force her... She knows my weakness, anyways. One big smile and I was finished." Akane said.  
  
"Oh, one of these?" Ranma stepped back, and smiled widely, blinking slowly.  
  
"Exactly." Akane said, blushing. How did he always manage to do that to her?  
  
"I'll get her up, and talk to her a bit." Ranma placed a light kiss on his wife's forehead, then moved to his son's room.  
  
Ranma Jr. heard the light knocks on her door, and sighed. The knocking continued, so she had to get up out of bed and put on her robe. She walked to the door, and opened it. "I'm up... I'm up." She said.  
  
"Good." Ranma Sr. smiled brightly. "Time to get ready for school, Ranma."  
  
"I know..." Ranma Jr. said, feeling very unwilling to go to school on this particular day. She knew her father would pick up on this, so she moved back to her bed, and sat on the edge. She saw her father follow close behind.  
  
"Ranma... I'm not going to ask you about what happened." Ranma Sr. smiled.  
  
"Thanks dad..." Ranma Jr. said, knowing that even though his father wouldn't force him to discuss it, it was something she could do with him, better than anyone else. "The swimming team girls... They all hated me. They all... stared at me. I can't go back there."  
  
Ranma Sr. put his arm around his daughter's shoulder, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "Ranma, I'm not going to make you. My dad pushed me all the time. You are your own person, and you have to make your own choices."  
  
Ranma Jr. smiled lightly, messing with the bottom fringe of her nightgown. Her smile faded just as soon, however, when the thoughts came right back to her. "Dad... I'm a guy. I know... But I'm a girl too... It's just hard to figure everything out."  
  
"I know, Ranma. You're doing a lot better than I did, I'm so proud of you. It is hard, but you always have me and your mom to help, whenever it gets overwhelming." Ranma Sr. said, hearing the bathroom door open. "I think you should just get ready and go to school, it'll get your mind onto something else. I've got to go get a bath, i'm stinking up the whole house." Ranma Sr. grinned, as he stood.  
  
"Thanks, Dad." Ranma Jr. smiled, as she rose as well. Once her father had left, and the door was closed, she pulled off her nightgown, standing infront of the mirror to look at herself. 'Man, Ranma... You really can't deny you're a girl. You're even a really good looking one. Like dad said though, you're doing great, better than him,' She thought. "He's right, I just need to get ready and go to school." She said. Ranma got dressed in her uniform, then went out to the kitchen.  
  
"My daughter..." Akane said, smiling brightly.  
  
"Aww, Mom." Ranma blushed, sitting at the table. Akama walked in shortly after, dressed similarly in her uniform.  
  
"My daughter..." Akane said again, smiling even brighter.  
  
"Is there an echo in here?" Ranma Jr. asked, giggling.  
  
"I think there is, sis. I heard her say it to you too." Akama said, grinning as she sat.  
  
"Oh, you two, be quiet." Akane smiled, giving them their breakfast. Both Ranma and Akama ate fairly quickly, being as they were running out of time somewhat. After eating, they both got up and started to school.  
  
Walking along the sidewalk, Ranma looked over at her sister. Blinking, she looked closer. "Akama... What's that on your face?" Ranma asked, very confused.  
  
"What, I can't wear a little makeup to school?" Akama said. The bright blush that was drawn to her cheeks was somewhat hidden by said makeup.  
  
"No, no... Of course you can... But why did you? This really doesn't seem like you, Akama." Ranma blinked again, now getting worried about her sister. Ranma did sometimes wish her sister would act a little more feminine, but it was surprising that her sister would change this quickly.  
  
"So I'm changing what's 'me', Ranma. I could still kick your butt, and anyone else that has a problem with it, so just leave me alone with my lipstick, alright?" Akama grinned widely. "Ranma, I know you're just worried about me. Sisters are supposed to do that, right?"  
  
"Yeah, brothers too." Ranma said. "I am just worried about you, sis. You seem to be jumping from one side of the scale to the other really quick, is all."  
  
Akama smiled, patting her sister's shoulder. "Ranma, you'll be the first person I come to if I need anything, ok? Don't worry so much, you're gonna pop a blood vessel."  
  
"Heh.. That sounds painful." Ranma said. They finally got to the school, and Ranma spotted Taiiku out of the corner of her eye. Ranma blushed brightly, her current gender and attire brought to the front of her mind. 'I can't let her see me... I don't know what she'll think...' Ranma thought. She said goodbye to her sister, and slipped off to her class.  
  
Taiiku noticed Ranma, and smiled, starting to go over to her. Taiiku's smile quickly faded as she saw Ranma walk by hurriedly and slip into the school. 'Guess she didn't see me.' Taiiku thought. 'She looks very pretty today, I'll have to remember to tell her.'  
  
Ranma looked back through the shaded windows of the school, seeing Taiiku walk away. 'Just get to class, Ranma. Get your mind on something else.' She thought. Classes went fairly normally for Ranma, she listened intently to the teacher, and eventually the lunch bell rang. Ranma walked out of the class slightly after everyone.  
  
Taiiku came down the hall, chatting with a few friends. In the distance, a flash of red crossed her field of vision. Ranma had to have seen her this time, they were looking straight at each other. "Ranma! Hi!" Taiiku yelled, smiling. The only reply she recieved was a sad, worried smile, as Ranma turned and walked away quickly.  
  
'I just can't... We kissed, and... I just can't. Until I can stand myself, I can't have Taiiku see me.' Ranma thought. She walked out and sat by a tree a bit farther off than her usual one, sighing as she opened her lunch. A small note was inside, that read, 'I'm proud of you, Ranma. Love, Akane.' Ranma sighed, and tucked the note back in.  
  
"This is really getting weird." Taiiku said. "I have to find Ranma and see what this is about."  
  
Ranma hardly noticed it, but as she was lost in her own thoughts, a figure approached her. It was Taiiku, and now there was nowhere Ranma could go. "Hi... T-Taiiku." Ranma stuttered weakly.  
  
"Hi, Ranma." Taiiku answered, taking a seat on the grass. She pulled her legs close to her, and sighed. "Ranma, What's wrong? Did I do something?" Uncomfortable minutes passed as Ranma sat in silence. "Just talk to me, Ranma!" Taiiku said, calming down considerably before adding, "Please."  
  
"I like you." Ranma said, pulling her legs close to herself as well.  
  
"I like you too, Ranma. What's that have to do with this?" Taiiku asked, blinking.  
  
"Don't you see? I'm a girl. Not just some guy that's cursed, like my dad, I'm a girl. Sometimes more of a girl than a guy... Don't you feel weird?" Ranma responded.  
  
"Well, why would I? You're a guy a lot of the time, you were born a guy from what I know, and beside that, Ranma... Guy or girl, I really like you. It's you... I mean, not clothes, or makeup, or your body.. You."   
  
"B-but... I'm a guy... and look at me. Wearing a skirt, and... and..." Ranma said, as she shifted in the feminine garments. "I'm a guy. You're a girl. It's supposed to just be simple. It's never been simple for me though. I like being a guy, I absolutely loved our date... But when I got home from it, I was a girl, and I saw my toenails... They looked so blank, and I wanted to paint them. It's sad, isn't it?" Ranma said.  
  
Taiiku sat there through what Ranma had to say, listening closely. When Ranma had finished, she smiled and spoke up. "It's not sad, if my toenails had been looking bad, I would have wanted to paint them too. There's nothing wrong with you, Ranma. You're a normal girl." Taiiku grinned a little, "You just happen to be a normal guy too. I'm glad you are, too... I'm really fond of him."  
  
Ranma's cheeks slowly filled with a light pink blush, and the bit of warmth that came with it, causing her to turn away. "You're too nice to me. I've.. not ever really had friends to begin with, much less friends that i was..." Ranma scratched her head softly, seeming to be searching for the right words. "Attracted to." She sighed, before continuing, "I can't figure out what makes you different, Taiiku. I like it, but i can't figure it out."  
  
"Must be the unique specialness that is me, Ranma. No other possibility." Taiiku said, winking, in an effort to cheer her companion a bit.  
  
Ranma smiled softly, before sighing again. "I just don't know... i'm getting so many confusing feelings lately. I'm sorry i avoided you today, Taiiku."  
  
Taiiku smiled back, and hugged Ranma lightly, with one arm around Ranma's back. "It's alright. You had me worried, though. Talk to me when something's bothering you, silly." Taiiku said.  
  
"I'll try." Ranma said, her mood brightening very noticeably with the small embrace, "I'm not used to this though... I mean, having friends."  
  
"I can tell, Ranma... But don't worry, i don't bite." Taiiku said, grinning slightly  
  
"Better not." Ranma said, "Or i'll have to bite back." Ranma said.  
  
The two of them ate their lunches together, then went back inside for the rest of their day. 


End file.
